Wheel of the World
by SnowLion no Miko
Summary: Kuchiki Rukia was just your typical teenage girl who could see spirits. Well, that is, until a shinigami with white hair showed up on her doorstep and turned her life upside down. HitsuRuki, AU
1. How This Life Goes

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_**Summary: Kuchiki Rukia was just your typical teenage girl who could see spirits. Well, that is, until a shinigami with white hair showed up on her doorstep and turned her life upside down. HitsuRuki, AU**_

_Alright! I'm diving head first into the pairing of uber love that is HitsuRuki! It took me a while to come up with a plot and everything, but I finally got one that I felt like I thought people would like! Haha, so anyway, thanks to awesome authors that have inspired me to write this! So, thank ya very much!_

_Here's the first chapter of many! (and happy birthday, Nana!)_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter One: How This Life Goes**

* * *

"Oh, great..." 

Kuchiki Rukia was really beginning to think she had the worst luck in the world.

Not only had she spilled orange juice on her only _clean_ school uniform this morning, she was currently being stalked by some wayward spirit that couldn't seem to get enough of creeping her the hell out.

"What's your name?" The spirit almost purred, looking at her like she was some kind of human eye candy.

She ignored him, and continued walking down the sidewalk to her school.

Oh, yes, it was true. Rukia was born with the ability to see and sense spirits and apparitions and basically anything supernatural. At this point and time in her life, she was uncertain if her powers were a gift or a curse.

"You're _cute_."

_It's a gift from __**Hell. **_Rukia decided as she rounded the corner to her high school, where she attended with the select few of her close friends. The wind whipped at her raven black hair; her jewel-like orbs, a navy blue in color with the slightest tint of dark violet if the light caught them right, focused on the task ahead - getting to school without having to actually talk to this seemingly obsessive spirit.

"Rukia!" A bright and cheery voice called out to greet her.

The Kuchiki girl turned, locks of hair obscuring her vision before she was met with the innocent gaze of Inoue Orihime.

"Good morning, Orihime." Rukia acknowledged, desperately hoping that the contact with her friend would make the odd apparition disinterested in her.

To her dismay, it only spurred him on.

"Oh, what do we got here?" The spirit floated in front of Rukia and her cheery friend, his eyes scanning over the curves and whatnot of the latter. "She looks more open to conversation than you do."

Rukia studied him. He looked to be in his mid-forties, thinning brown hair, gray eyes, and a pair of large, obtrusive, black rimmed glasses on his nose. A name tag on his shirt read _Kunimitsu R_.

_So...the pervy spirit has a name after all. _The raven haired girl resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

Orihime suddenly stopped, causing..._things_...to move in front of that lecherous old ghost. A smirk spread on his features as she said, "Do you feel like we're being watched?"

"Oh, I'll let you feel something el - "

Rukia's eyes widened as something shot toward the male ghost, cutting him off mid-sentence.

It seemed to be a flash of white, nothing more, but it was still significant enough for Rukia to voice, "What the - ?!"

Seconds later, there was another flash. This time of a bright, white, almost purifying light.

_What the hell just happened?!_

"Rukia."

Jolting out of her reverie, she looked ahead to see the long haired girl stopped a few feet in front of her, "Ah, yes, Orihime?"

"You stopped walking all of a sudden. Is there something wrong?"

"No...just got caught up in my thoughts." Which wasn't a lie, since she had done just that.

"Oh..." Orihime closed her eyes in a bright smile, "Let's get to class, then!"

As if on cue, the bell to begin school rang.

"Oh, no! We'll be tardy! C'mon, Rukia!" Orihime exclaimed as she clasped Rukia's slender wrist with her hand and tugged her along to school.

But, even as they rushed to school. Even after that spirit had seemingly vanished, Rukia still felt as if she had eyes watching her every movement.

* * *

"Hitsugaya-taichou..." 

A man with spiky white hair and a pair of intense, icy blue-green orbs looked at the woman across from him with a sideways glance after shielding his zanpakutou after giving that pervy spirit a konso. He was short in stature compared to the tall, voluptuous woman beside him. He wore a regular shihakusho with a white captain's robe draped across his small frame. "What is it, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the tenth company, directed his gaze onto his subordinate.

"That girl..." Matsumoto Rangiku shifted her gaze slightly before meeting her eyes with her captain's. "...I felt a significant amount of spiritual pressure coming off of her."

"Which one?" Hitsugaya quirked an eyebrow at the woman, "The short one or the taller one?"

"Ya know, you really don't have any right to call her short when she's taller than you," Matsumoto smirked, "But yeah, it was the one with the black hair."

Hitsugaya almost growled at his assistant captain's crack on his height. "Alright. I get it. I'm short."

"I'm actually surprised you didn't notice it." The taller woman noted, stretching her arms above her in a languorous manner before sinking down to rest under a tree.

"That I'm short?"

"_No_, taichou." Matsumoto playfully stated, smiling warmly at her superior, "The spiritual energy of that woman."

"I was too busy getting that disgusting male spirit away from them." The icy eyed male defended, walking closer.

"Mmhm," Matsumoto acknowledged.

It was silent for a moment while the short captain pondered over what had happened. "Matsumoto."

"Yes, taichou?"

"They were headed for Karakura High School." Hitsugaya stated, looking at the lazily strewn out Matsumoto in front of him, "I want you to see where exactly that girl is. Find out her name, age...things such as that..."

"Why are you so interested in this girl, taichou?"

Hitsugaya scoffed, "Shouldn't it be obvious?"

Matsumoto looked at the white haired man with curiosity, waiting for his reason why, for she knew the former question was a rhetorical one.

"If that girl has as much spirit energy as you say, she may be the prime target for a hollow."

* * *

"Kuchiki, please explain the meaning of the proverb on page five eighty four." 

Rukia sighed as she lifted herself out of her seat, book in hand, as was proper gesture for any student as they gave an answer. She read the passage in her mind, _You can't see the forest for the trees..._ She thought for a moment before clearing her throat and answering, "I believe it means that it's sometimes easier to understand a situation if you look at it from a distance."

"Very good, Kuchiki." The teacher said approvingly, "Very nice insight."

Rukia gave a graceful smile as she sat back down in her seat.

Sighing, she thought to herself, _Luckily I had that proverb when I was younger..._

She ran a hand through her locks as she leaned back in her chair, staring out the large window that was conveniently located beside her desk. She found it to be a constant reliever of boredom, being able to glance out the glass pane of the window at the outside, watching the sway of the tree limbs as they moved with the oncoming wind, dancing with it. She enjoyed watching the birds as well. Most of the time they wouldn't get close enough to the window for her to see them clearly, but she just found interest in watching their vague outlines flutter about in the wind.

Rukia saw her reflection in the glass and moved a stray piece of hair away from her features.

The scenery was calming almost, now that she had drowned out the teacher's grating voice from her mind. She looked from the window back to the teacher, who had scribbled something on the board. Rukia quickly copied it into her own notes before turning her head back to the window.

She gasped sharply in fright at what she saw. "Ah!" She tried to cover her mouth with her hand to muffle it, but several people looked over in her direction.

A sinister looking mask-type thing was looking straight at her. Face to face. The only barrier separating them was the thin sheet of glass between them. Its eyes were empty, black holes. A cruel smile was etched onto the thing, teeth baring in a startlingly bone like smile. It was basically a skeleton type face, but it had skeletal hands that were trying to reach through the window to get at her.

It opened its mouth slightly and whispered delicately, only for her. And she knew it.

"_Soon_."

Her eyes widened with fear as the hand started to reach toward her and stroke her cheek.

"Get _away_ from...me." She mumbled loud enough for the creature to hear.

Rukia closed her eyes with such force that her eyes hurt.

"Get away."

The bell ringing for everyone to go home was a comforting sound for once. She jolted out of her seat faster than any other body in that classroom and raced out of the room.

Of course the figure was gone, but she couldn't help but feel his thick, _evil_ energy permeate the air around her form. Shoving her books in her locker, she gave a loud groan. "Dammit..." She bit her lip as she got the things for her homework and slammed her locker shut, small hands trembling.

"Rukia."

Jumping somewhat and taking in a sharp inhalation of breath, she turned to the sound of her name, "What?"

She was met with the calm, confident navy blue eyes of Ishida Uryu, "Are you alright, Rukia?" He shifted his bag on his shoulder as he looked at her shaking hands.

"Wh-Why would you think I wouldn't be fine, Ishida?" Rukia stated as if nothing at all had happened.

The bespectacled boy just sighed, "You looked scared in last hour. Gasped really loudly. I just wondered."

"Oh, I just thought I saw something," The shorter woman said to her friend, "It was nothing. Just my...imagination." _If only that was the case. _Rukia found herself thinking, _But that...__**touch**__ was too real feeling to be fake or an illusion. _Slender fingers reached up to her cheek as if still feeling that cold grasp on her flesh.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Ishida questioned, adjusting his glasses onto his face with utmost precision.

"You don't have to."

"I want to, Rukia."

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation, "Alright, Ishida, do what you want."

As the two walked out of the door, Ishida kept a curious eye out for whatever that thing was he saw about to attack Rukia. He closed his eyes as he remembered that figure. That mask with that wicked smile etched onto it...with cold, dead sockets where eyes used to be.

A hollow.

The energy emitting from his Quincy cross pounded throughout his body from his wrist, as if knowing there was a fight ahead. Or coming.

He just hoped that the hollow wasn't after Rukia.

* * *

"Ugh..." Matsumoto said, looking at the creature she had just run through with her zanpakutou. She peeled its form off of the blade and tossed it onto the ground. It looked to be some kind of beetle with a sort of ooze gushing from it. 

She had just come upon a hollow clinging to the school window, reaching its hand into the glass as if trying to grasp something. When she had approached it, the monstrous thing had turned, spit several of these beetle creatures at her and ran off. It disappeared where Matsumoto couldn't feel its spiritual pressure.

The beetles had sprayed some kind of acidic liquid at her. It singed her robes slightly, and caused her a few cuts, but nothing serious. And only because she was caught off guard.

"I can only assume the hollow was after that black haired girl." The orange haired woman mused, flicking the fluid from her blade before depositing it back in its sheath.

She closed her eyes and yawned before snapping her orbs open once again at the surge of spiritual energy that made itself known to her. "Its reappeared!"

Matsumoto began to rush in the direction of her captain's energy.

"I've gotta warn taichou."

* * *

A chill made its way down Rukia's spine as the twosome arrived at her house. 

"Ishida..."

The man beside her seemed to sense what she did as well. But Ishida had no special powers that she knew of! Maybe this thing was so sinister that even regular humans could feel its presence. He extended his arm in front of Rukia, as if to make her stay back, "Be careful, Rukia."

An item of jewelry swirled around his wrist as he did so. The glint of the cross emblem on it immediately caught the Kuchiki woman's eye. Especially since the glint didn't seem to be caused by light hitting the metal.

It seemed to be caused by _spiritual energy_.

"What's gotten you so - "

"Sh!" Ishida uttered as he closed his eyes.

The sun was setting, creating a stunning array of orange and yellow and blue around them. Such bright, vibrant colors that couldn't be associated with that thing Rukia saw earlier. Could they?

_BOOM!_

A large shudder of the ground caused the two to stumble before regaining their composure. It was as if two giant pillars had crashed into the ground right beside the two civilians.

"Your soul...smells _delicious_."

Rukia's violet blue orbs widened before she turned around to be met face to face once more with that beast.

He was huge, monstrous being, half the size of her two story house. It was the same face from before, although this time, his tongue lolled in and out of his mouth as his empty sockets seemed to stare holes into the much smaller girl in front of him.

She was shaking again.

Dammit...

Ishida stretched out his hand and before Rukia's eyes, a bright blue light shot forth from the cross on his wrist, flickering and taking the form of a bow in his hand. "I-Ishida?!"

"Stand back, Rukia. I've got this."

"A Quincy. How interesting." The skull faced freak snarled with intrigue.

Rukia watched as Ishida pulled back the string on the bow, an arrow formed, and was shot at a blinding speed toward the creature. The arrow punctured the monster right in the juncture between his shoulder and chest. It cried out in pain, clenching its wounded area, a strange sort of blood staining its claws as it did so. Ishida shot two more arrows, each pinning themselves in the legs of the target.

It sent a bone chilling glare toward the now revealed Quincy. _Whatever __**that **__is... _Rukia thought, taking a step back from the battle, a sick feeling coming into her stomach.

"Damn Quincy!" The _thing_ roared, faking one way, dodging an arrow and hitting Ishida with one of its large skeletal claws. The slender man was slung through the air and connected squarely with the side of the Kuchiki residence.

"Ishida!" Rukia cried out, racing over to the fallen boy.

He was bleeding very badly. Rukia raised his head up to get a good look at him to see if he was alright. As she did so, Ishida coughed blood up on her clothes, "Ishida..." Rukia could feel tears springing to her eyes. "Ish..."

"Come here...I want your soul..."

Rukia turned her head swiftly, locks blurring her vision for a moment. Through them she could see the outline of the mask, the teeth...the grin...

She closed her eyes tightly as tears pricked the corners of them.

"Don't cry, girl."

She snapped them open.

It was a different voice that said those words. A pure, yet rough tone that pierced her subconsciousness and seemingly cleansed her fears altogether, although she knew not why it did that exactly.

A man stood in front of her. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his face, but she could make out a distinct feature of his - white hair.

The monster looked surprised, "Who the hell are you?!"

"I don't see why I have to answer to you, since you're about to die." The man said arrogantly, brandishing a sword of some sort. He looked up, "Matsumoto!"

A woman with long, flowing orange hair jumped down from the roof of a building next to Rukia's house. Her sword caught a gleam in the light from the rising moon. "Haineko!" She shouted, slashing the monster's arm off with one clean cut before landing gracefully beside the shorter man. "Do you want me to finish him off, taichou?"

"No," The man said, flicking his sword with suppressed excitement, it seemed. "I'll do those honors."

"D-Damn you..." The offending creature muttered as blood spurted from his wound.

"Hyorinmaru!" The man shouted as he jumped up, following the damage the woman had done by starting at the head, slicing downward from the skull to the ground in a swift manner that seemed almost like dance to Rukia.

He landed as the monster cried out in pain before fading from existence altogether in a bright light.

"Good work, taichou." The woman said, ruffling his hair with her hand.

"Same to you too, Matsumoto...don't do that."

"Ah, yes." The woman named Matsumoto gave a sheepish smile, "We should be going. Get a report of this to Soul Society."

"Yes."

Just as they were about to go, Rukia called out. "Wait!"

The two turned to face her immediately, "Hm?" The woman muttered, looking at the smaller girl.

"Who are you!? What just happened...I want answers..."

"Looks like we can't hide this from her now..." The man said somewhat exasperatedly, "Matsumoto, go back to Soul Society on your own and give the report of this to Yamamoto-genryusai. I'll stay here and...explain things to the girl."

"Yes, taichou."

And in a flash, the woman was gone.

Rukia gulped, "Please...um...what's your name?"

She felt like an idiot for asking that, but her mind was too scrambled at this moment to fathom anything else to question.

A smirk formed on his lips.

Turquoise met navy.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro."

* * *

_**End Chapter One.**_

_Wow, I do believe this is the longest first chapter of anything I have ever wrote. I am so excited that I finally finished it, though! And sorry if it seemed rushed, but this is basically a set up to get you in the mood for the whole fic. And for you to get to know the characters. That ole stuff._

_And this is semi-AU. So not everything will be how it is in manga. A lot of things will be twisted to my whim...yes, because I am great. But not as great as Kubo Tite himself. And sorry if I got anything wrong with the terms or anything else. I have read up to volume 21 in the manga, so I am a little up to date but not as much as some other awesome peeps._

_Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I hope you will leave me a (preferably kind) review. But even if it is a flame or constructive criticism, I'll take it! Haha. _

_Anyway, as __**BlackBelt **__says: "Join the HitsuRuki army!"_


	2. The Ice Shinigami

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach._

_Thanks to the people who reviewed! I really appreciate all of your support and kind comments. And I'm sorry if Hitsugaya is OOC, sometimes that just happens with me. I dunno...I rather like the idea of an arrogant!Hitsugaya and the humbleyetsomewhatchildish!Rukia...I dunno. I probably make no sense. Haha._

_Anyway, enjoy chapter two!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Two: The Ice Shinigami**

* * *

The raven haired girl stared at this man who held such a domineering pose in front of her, despite his height. 

_Or lack thereof... _Rukia thought with a smirk.

It seemed quiet for a while with just the sound of the chilly night wind rustling through the trees and the faded sound of cars just a few miles away from the formally quiet suburb where Rukia lived. Her liquid depths washed over this Hitsugaya Toshiro person.

He had a handsome face, although somewhat childlike in its appearance. Spiky white locks were being splayed around by the breeze in the night. Tanned skin seemed to glow in the moonlight and she could make out the distinct ripple of muscles even under all of those clothes. Blue green eyes looked at her with the utmost scrutiny before he said with a smirk, "Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to get your friend help before he bleeds to death?"

As if just realizing that Ishida was there, Rukia shot up in a panic, "Oh, no..."

"Don't worry..." Hitsugaya said in a strange tone, one that was mixed with an attitude of not caring and exasperation at the girl's anxiety. "C'mon, I'll help you get him into your house..."

Quirking an eyebrow at the white haired spirit, she gave him a shaky smile, "Thanks...um...Toshiro?"

"Hitsugaya." He corrected.

"Why can't I call you by your first name?"

"Just..._don't_."

"You don't like your first name?"

"I prefer being called Hitsugaya." The shorter man said, heaving Ishida's much taller form onto his shoulder and heading for the door to her house. "Or better yet, Hitsugaya-_taichou_."

"Why would I call you that?" Rukia asked, tilting her head to the side, causing her black locks to fall somewhat in front of her features.

"You ask too many questions...uh, girl." Hitsugaya stated, struggling for the big eyed girl's name.

"Rukia's my name." She offered, somewhat awkwardly opening the door for Hitsugaya to enter, "But if you're going to be insistent on calling people by their last names, then you can call me Kuchiki if you want."

Kuchiki...where had he heard that name mentioned before?

Shaking his head, he brought the bespectacled man into the house. He had no time to figure out where he had heard the girl's last name before. He just needed to focus on getting this human better so he could leave and tend to his other duties.

"Where should I put him?" Hitsugaya asked, looking around at the darkened house, which suddenly became illuminated when Rukia turned on the lights.

"Um...on the couch should be fine." Rukia pointed to a rather large couch seated in front of a rather large television in her rather large living room.

Nodding, the white haired shinigami made his way into the den and laid Ishida on the couch. He sighed exasperatedly, _If only Unohana-taichou was here...this would take less time. Good thing she taught me a little something about healing..._

"Um...Hitsugaya, do you need anything?" Rukia offered lamely as she watched the shorter man look over her friend's wounds, "For Ishida...that is."

"No..." Hitsugaya replied, his gaze not leaving the man on the couch. He stretched his hands over the large gash on the side of his head where he had impacted the wall. Rukia's eyes widened with amazement as a bluish, almost icy, aura emitted from his hands and soaked over the bloody area. The flesh began to close together, blood disappeared, bone fell back into place. It was a unique sight to watch, and the white haired man did this to the rest of Ishida's wounds, even bruises. Hitsugaya was done in a matter of an hour; Ishida was healed completely, although he was still unconscious, which was probably for the better.

"That was...amazing," Rukia awed, looking at the now virtually unharmed Ishida Uryu, "How did you - ?"

"Just a basic healing technique most shinigami know. The external wounds have disappeared, but he will he in pain. It will still feel like he was slammed into that wall, but his life is no longer in danger because of those wounds."

A feeling of relief washed over Rukia, "Whew, thanks."

"No need to thank me - " Hitsugaya stopped as soon as he lifted his eyes to meet those of the girl beside him, who was sitting in a very close proximity to his face. He felt his cold resolve begin to weaken for the first time in a while, but shook it off. How embarrassing! It was in front of a stranger, no less! He reasoned it to be due to the fact that no girl had ever been that close to his face, well...besides Hinamori, but she was his childhood friend, so he deemed that innocent. And an encounter with Matsumoto while she was drunk and hug-happy caused him to be face to face with something that definitely wasn't a face, but that was a different story altogether.

His eyes widened marginally before he snapped his head back and said, "What do you think you're doing, Kuchiki?"

She seemed to be caught out of a dazed sense of thinking, for she jolted slightly before smiling serenely and replying, "I just never thought shinigami would look like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most of the times I hear of legends and see pictures of shinigami, they are described as...monsters." Rukia began to make silly motions with her hands, as if describing a 'monster'. With her fingers curling and uncurling, as if they were talons of some sort, it was a comical sight, as well as her facial expressions and her eyes being wide and expressive.

Hitsugaya nearly chuckled.

She stopped with her puppet theater and met her eyes with his, "And, ya know...ever seen the anime Death Note? The shinigami in that...I thought that's what they looked like." Rukia roamed her eyes around his frame, "Not like...you."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I dunno," Rukia began, sighing somewhat, "I mean, you do look old enough to be my younger brother."

Hitsugaya growled as his electric orbs met her calm ones, "Hey! I have lived at least ten of your lives, girl."

Rukia lightly bonked Hitsugaya on the head, which was surprising to her; with him being a shinigami and all, she expected her hand to pass straight through it. "Hey, my name is not 'girl'."

"Fine, Kuchiki." Hitsugaya rubbed the small sore spot on his head where she had tapped her fist.

The triumphant smile that spread across her features caused him to feel very irritated that she thought she won.

Before he had time to make a snappy comeback, this Rukia girl spoke again, this time in a serious, even tone as she gazed upon the unconscious form of the bespectacled man beside her, "So...what's going on?"

"Nn?"

"You said you would explain to me everything once we were inside..." Rukia broke it down for him, "I would very much like to know what happened."

Hitsugaya stared blankly at her for a moment.

"Please. If I do not impose on your time, I would like to know what exactly is happening..."

The white haired shinigami blinked in confusion for a moment. In just a short amount of time, he had seen so many angles from this girl - the worried friend, the joking girl, the shocked part, even her slight temper, and now the painfully polite angle of this girl. This girl was quite odd, but it intrigued him. And her earnest, polite words made him open his mouth and explain everything to her.

"As you know," He began, "I am a shinigami, or in other words - Soul Reaper."

Hitsugaya met his eyes with hers and held the gaze, not wavering, "Our first duty is to lead _wholes _- normal spirits - into the Soul Society by means of konso, which is sort of like exorcism, but it basically releases their soul from this world and allows them to pass on. The second thing we Soul Reapers must do are vanquish and purify _hollows _- evil spirits - who attack the dead and even the living and devour their souls." He tapped his sword as he said those words, "We use our zanpakutous for both tasks."

Rukia's eyes widened marginally in interest as Hitsugaya continued.

"Hollows used to be human once. They are souls who were not admitted into Soul Society by a shinigami - fallen souls. These souls weren't saved from other hollows. These souls, fall, lose their hearts, and become hollows themselves."

"So...that thing that attacked me...was that - ?"

"A hollow? Yes, it was."

Rukia felt a hard lump form in her throat, and she swallowed with difficulty.

"So..." Rukia trailed off, feeling a nervous twist in her stomach, "...if you wouldn't have came, it would've eaten...my _soul_?"

Hitsugaya nodded gravely, almost feeling bad for the girl. She looked deathly afraid.

"Any reason why they wanted to eat my soul?"

The turquoise eyed man paused, before explaining that, "I encountered you at the beginning of today, while you and that orange haired girl were walking to school. I was the one who got rid of that spirit that was trailing you, by use of konso. Ever since then, I knew you would be a prime target for a hollow since your spiritual energy is so high. At off-the-chart levels."

It was true. Rukia, despite her humanity, was actually a very spiritually charged girl. He was surprised that this was her first encounter with a hollow, seeing as how he was currently being somewhat overwhelmed by the energy pulsating off of her small frame.

"So it's a bad thing that I can see ghosts." Rukia said, more of a statement than a question.

"Well, I'd say it's not helping you if you were nearly killed tonight," Hitsugaya deadpanned, eyes dull but still connected with hers.

Rukia's violet orbs darkened into blue and she looked worried and sad, "Yeah..."

Hitsugaya ignored the slight feeling of pity he felt for the girl and looked at her friend, "A Quincy...I haven't seen one of those in years."

_Great topic change, genius-taichou. _Hitsugaya thought sarcastically to himself, almost punching himself for his bluntness.

Rukia seemed to go with it, however, for she asked, "Quincy...what's that?"

"They are the natural rivals of shinigami," Hitsugaya said, looking from him to her, "They are very strong if trained well. This one seems to be on his way to having great strength, though." His orbs scanned over the Quincy cross on his wrist, "They use bow and arrows as weapons...make them by conjuring up the energy around them and forming it into the weapon."

"How...how could I not have felt his energy?"

"He must be really good at hiding his true power," Hitsugaya explained, looking down at the Quincy youth, "Otherwise, I would've known there was a Quincy in the area before the hollow attacked."

Rukia seemed to understand, nodding her head gently toward the ivory haired male, "So, my energy...I don't know how to hide it and that's why I was attacked?"

"To put it bluntly, yes," Hitsugaya said, giving her the truth.

This seemed to sadden her, as she lowered her eyes before moving them to her friend's form. "Ah...I must not have the ability to do that..."

Hitsugaya didn't reveal to her that she most likely did, for then she would try and learn it herself. That would cause harm to her being in training her to suppress her aura...so he avoided it.

"You shouldn't worry." Hitsugaya said, looking down at her, "Matsumoto and I are the shinigami assigned to this area of Japan. With your energy, we can easily sense you and defend you from a hollow." _Although it would be easier with a few gigai and backup forces...I should ask Yamamoto-genryusai when we get back to Soul Society..._

"You'd do that?" Rukia seemed in shock of his sudden offer.

"Don't think of it as a personal favor." The white haired shinigami said, trying to quell her hopes that a shinigami would actually do her a favor. Although the idea did seem kind of nice... "Actually, in usual cases like this, when a human is attacked by a hollow, we use a memory replacement technique to cleanse their memories of that night. I would do that to you, but with your gifts, I wouldn't think this would be a one-time attack on you."

He could hear Rukia audibly gulp.

"But it will be okay," Hitsugaya found himself reassuring the girl despite himself, "I won't let your soul get eaten...I promise it."

At Hitsugaya's kind words, Rukia found herself smiling, "Ah...alright. Thank you."

Hitsugaya scoffed, turning his head to the side to avoid her glance. "Che...yeah..." His orbs then focused on Ishida, who stirred slightly, but was otherwise knocked out cold, "I doubt he'll wake up any time soon...so do you mind if he stays here for the night?"

"No. Not at all. When we were little, me and Ishida had sleepovers all the time." Rukia smiled brightly, and Hitsugaya took notice at the boyish and carefree way she did it. Her smile didn't try to be pretty. Her dimpled cheeks and big grin reminded him of himself when he was young and innocent and oh-so-carefree. Hitsugaya almost smiled along with her.

"That's good..." Hitsugaya replied, giving her a gentle and lazy smile, lips barely receding from his teeth, "Alright, well I'll leave you to go to sleep."

Rukia nodded whilst taking in a shaky breath as if to calm herself. "Okay...so I assume this won't be the last I see of you, ne?"

"I doubt it will be."

Rukia laughed, a light airy sound that was somewhat soothing to Hitsugaya's battle worn joints and state of mind, "Surprising as it is, it comforts me."

"See you, Kuchiki."

With that, his form raced out the door.

After a while of pondering over her thoughts, Rukia disappeared into the next room, bringing out a blanket to spread over Ishida. Sighing with a tired exasperation, she laid the comforting item over his lanky form gently. "Goodnight, Ishida."

Rukia then decided it would be best for her to get a bath and head to bed herself. Although it wasn't incredibly late, she felt as if she'd pulled an all-nighter the previous day, but in reality it was the physical and mental exhaustion of Hitsugaya telling her that she was basically a safety risk to herself and anyone around her due to the fact of her unusually high spiritual energy.

She walked up the stairs to the bathroom, ran her water in the tub, undressed out of her uniform, and slid into the warm caress of the liquid. The heat of the water seemed to ease her worries - the ones in both her mind and body. It was relaxing, calm...peaceful.

Rukia's eyes ran over her body, noticing that she had just a couple of bruises already forming from the hollow encounter. They were sensitive to the touch, so the raven haired girl just leaned back into the tub more, as if wishing that the water would wash away the memory of this horrible night from her mind.

The bath was a short one, despite how refreshed it made Rukia feel. She rose from the water, not bothering to bring out the hair dryer to fix her locks. She got a towel out form under the cabinet and dried herself before slipping on a robe and walking into her bedroom.

The house was silent, all for the creaking of the floorboards under feet as she made her way down the wood floors of the hall, down to her room, where the small soles finally met with fuzzy, shaggy carpet.

Once in her room, she plopped herself onto her bed, not bothering to even change into pajamas. Closing her eyes and leaning back into the soft cushions of her bed, she gave a tired groan as she felt sleep overwhelm her.

The first thing that entered her mind before she fell asleep was a pair of turquoise orbs, a zanpakutou, and a hollow's grin.

* * *

It had begun to rain just a few minutes after Rukia threw herself onto her bed. 

_Good thing she hadn't begun to undress herself... _Hitsugaya said, almost blushing at the thought.

The white haired shinigami was perched gracefully onto the limb of a tree right beside the Kuchiki woman's bedroom window. The rain poured down onto his small frame, soaking his shihakusho. His wet hair hung down into his eyes in chunks. Sighing roughly, he pushed them out of the way. As he did so water sprinkled into his eyes. Rubbing them with his sleeve, he gave a slight yawn.

"Tired, taichou?"

"Ah, hello, Matsumoto." Hitsugaya lifted an eyebrow in wonderment, "It took you that short of a time to file a report...?"

The strawberry blonde closed her eyes and smiled somewhat innocently at her captain, "I left it with Nanao-chan."

Hitsugaya slapped his forehead while Matsumoto gave a rather nervous laugh.

"So you told her about it?" Matsumoto asked, looking down at him. Hitsugaya nodded. "Did you erase her memory?"

At this, Hitsugaya shook his head no. "With her spirit energy, more hollows are bound to attack her. I think she deserves to know what's going on."

"Aa." Matsumoto nodded in understanding. "Well, you'd better add that to the report, or Yamamoto-genryusai will not be happy with not knowing..."

Hitsugaya nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Do you think you could make another trip to Soul Society and add that to our report...or to Ise-fukutaichou's report, to be more exact?"

Matsumoto chuckled and a Hell butterfly appeared. "Sure, taichou."

The turquoise eyed man went back to staring through the window at the raven haired girl. She had turned over on her back now, hands splayed carelessly around her. Her hair was fanned out around her like a cascade of black water. He could see that her breathing was slowed, peaceful, and she looked rather innocent in her sleep, unlike the intelligent and serious woman he had seen her be.

"Don't stare too hard, taichou."

With that, Matsumoto left a very flustered Hitsugaya in her wake.

* * *

The bright, shining sun beaming through the blinds woke Rukia that morning. Yawning, she rolled over and checked her alarm clock. "Too early...need sleep..." 

Walking lazily to the door, viewing it through heavily lidded eyes, she opened it just at the same time Ishida was raising his hand to knock.

"OWCH!"

Rukia clenched her eyes shut in a wince as she heard several bumps and bangs and yelps after the door KO-ed Ishida's clueless form. "I-I'm sorry, Ishida!" She called to the probably injured young man.

"N-No...pro-problem, Ruk...ia..."

She could hear little voices shouting in her head.

_**Oh my god, you killed Ishida!**_

_**You bastard!**_

The raven haired woman almost chuckled, but she raced down the stairs to help the crumpled pile of Uryu up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah...I'm stronger than I look."

"I now know that..." Rukia mentioned, looking at his bracelet.

"Ah, so you remember..." Ishida said somewhat dumbly, "Do I need to - ?"

"No," The Kuchiki woman said, grasping his hand and helping him up, "The shinigami - Hitsugaya - explained it all. You're something called a Quincy. You use bows and arrows. And since I couldn't sense your energy, you're obviously very powerful."

Ishida almost blushed if it weren't for the word _shinigami _in that sentence. He spat with a tone filled with venom, "Shinigami?"

"Yes..." Rukia tilted her head in a confused manner, "You sound like you have a grudge against them...shinigami, that is."

Ishida stiffened as he lifted himself up and brushed his clothes off.

"I _hate _shinigami."

Rukia felt no further need to discuss that, for Ishida got up rigidly and began his ascent up the stairs once more. The black haired man seemed to dismiss the topic, because he continued as if he hadn't said that previous statement, "Do you still have some of my extra uniforms here?"

She nodded at the question, "Yeah, they're in my closet. Why would I have thrown them out?" She chuckled slightly, "Hello, you still come over when you and your father are having problems. So I gotta keep spare clothes for your lazy - " She noticed Ishida's shoulders tighten at the mention of his father, so she backed off from the subject, "Yeah, hold on, I'll go get them!" She then raced up the stairs in front of the bespectacled man.

Ishida sighed in an odd manner, closing his eyes as he did so, as if to quell something inside him.

"Here, Ishida." Rukia tossed some clothes down toward him.

They landed squarely on his head and Rukia chuckled as she disappeared into her own room to get ready for school.

Seconds later, they were both ready, and after eating a fast breakfast, they were off walking to school together.

Rukia, still munching on a bagel, explained everything to Ishida, although he already seemed to know about hollows and wholes and shinigami and Soul Society. Which seemed odd to Rukia, since she had known nothing about it. And if Ishida had known about this, why hadn't he told her before they had nearly been killed last night?

"Because you would've thought I was insane." He answered bluntly.

Rukia smiled nervously at the comment as she sweatdropped. "Yeah...right." _I think I might be going a little insane as well..._

The dark eyed girl stared straight in front of her, keeping her eye on the path in front of her with confidence. That is, until something caught her eye.

That something being a flash of white hair and tanned skin.

She stopped, hair flying in front of her face as a wind passed by.

"Something wrong?" Ishida asked. He had obviously not picked up on the presence.

"No, nothing, Ishida." Rukia gave him an elegant, reassuring smile.

They continued walking, talking, but Rukia couldn't rid that vision from her mind.

That was Hitsugaya...but _why _was he there?

* * *

_**End Chapter Two.**_

_FINALLY!!! That's all I have to say about finishing this chapter. I feel like this one took forever to complete. This one is rather lengthy as well. But I hope you enjoyed it. _

_And if no one has noticed (which you prolly haven't) I'm kinda making Ishida in Renji's role in the anime/manga. Like the childhood friend who cares for her with __**those **__type of feelings... And yes, Renji will be in this fic. How? Well, you'll see. Ichigo will be as well. And some other characters will make appearances in this fic too. With major roles! Yes, yes. Haha._

_Anyway, I would love it if I got some feedback for this chapter! (not trying to be a review whore...haha)_

_Arigato!_


	3. Convincing Yamamoto

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach._

_Thank you so much for the kind responses! I really appreciate them. (This comment seems the norm for any of my author's notes.) I'm glad everyone likes the story and that more and more people are liking HitsuRuki because of it. Yay!_

_Alright, so without further ado, here's chapter three!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Three: Convincing Yamamoto**

* * *

Hitsugaya sighed as he walked through the halls toward Yamamoto's office. He felt a slight tightening in his stomach with every step he took. Despite his rank, and the people who referred to him as a "prodigy", he still was intimidated when he had to go see the leader of all Soul Society. Who could blame him? He remembered seeing even the most powerful and high-ranked shinigami being humbled in Yamamoto's presence. 

As comforting as _that _thought was, Hitsugaya still couldn't keep his palms from clenching tightly together in anticipation.

The white haired man sighed as he turned the final corner to arrive at the genryusai's office.

He could only hope that his somewhat foolish idea wouldn't be laughed at.

Raising his hand to knock, Hitsugaya took in a deep inhalation of air and closed his eyes.

"Come in, Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya gave a slight gasp, but he shouldn't be surprised. Yamamoto had known that he was outside the door, although he hadn't even rapped at the door yet. His power was indeed amazing.

The white haired man opened the door and stepped into the elder shinigami's office.

Yamamoto sat in his chair behind a huge desk with some papers and other things resting atop it. The bearded man was reclining quite comfortably, in a relaxed position, Hitsugaya noted as he studied the powerful man's body language. Maybe his relaxed mood would help him agree to this ludicrous idea the ice shinigami had come up with.

"I hear you wanted to discuss something with me." His deep voice boomed, penetrating the silence between them.

"Yes, Yamamoto-genryusai." Hitsugaya stated as best he could without stuttering.

"Alright..." The elder said, his eyes scrutinizing the taichou's movements. "...there is no need to be nervous. I am all ears and will hear you out."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes and gave a slight bow of his head in respect. No matter how much his ego seemed to expand, he still had his polite moments, especially in front of one of the most revered men in all of the Seireitei.

"I want to request you let me spend some time in the human world..." Hitsugaya began after clearing his throat, "...and for you to let me take a few back up shinigami with me...and put them, as well as me, in gigais." He elaborated for the elder man, "To pose as students in Karakura."

Yamamoto quirked a grayish-white eyebrow as his eyes continued to study the short captain, "This is a most unusual - and out-of-the-blue - request, Hitsugaya."

"Yes, sir, I am aware of that," The turquoise eyed man said, meeting his eyes with those of Yamamoto's, "But I do believe you will not be wasting your time on this."

Yamamoto gave a slight nod of his head, "Alright, continue."

"I want this to be done to protect a girl with a dubious amount of spiritual energy." Hitsugaya said in an even tone, but with equal conviction, as he saw Yamamoto's questioning look at his statement, "And I'm not just talking about some kid with only the ability to see ghosts, as that power is common. Or a psychic. She has enough spirit energy to make her a target for a hollow." He took in another deep breath, "She even has the amount of spiritual pressure that rivals Abarai-fukutaichou's."

At this, Yamamoto finally took interest. "So you're saying that this girl...this _human _girl has enough spirit energy to possibly be a shinigami when she passes on?"

Hitsugaya nodded.

"Interesting."

It grew silent for a moment after.

Then Yamamoto spoke, "So, as well as you protecting this girl, could you mold her spiritual powers? You could very well train this girl while she is still in the world of the living. If she is as much of a rarity as you say she is, she could learn a variety of kido and also learn how to use a sword."

"Like a zanpakutou?"

"Not quite. Start her off with a regular sword and see how she progresses." Yamamoto replied, "Or...maybe just teach her kendo. You are quite proficient in that as well. That will help her with her sword handling skills."

Hitsugaya nodded in agreement, "Yes..." He trailed off before saying, "So are you approving my request?"

Yamamoto repeated the gesture, "Yes. I will leave it up to you to find the shinigami to travel with you. You may take at most four. We cannot afford to lose many at this time."

The white haired man gave a bright smile at his elder, "Thank you, Yamamoto-genryusai."

Hitsugaya turned to walk out the door but was stopped when Yamamoto once again called out to him.

"Sir?" The captain turned to face him, standing in the door frame.

"May I ask the girl's name?"

"Kuchiki Rukia."

* * *

"Hey, taichou, how'd it go?" Matsumoto greeted her captain outside of the genryusai's quarters. 

"Good." Hitsugaya answered, "He gave me permission for everything. He said we can have gigais and I could bring as many as four other shinigami with me on this mission, but I must train the Kuchiki girl in kido and some light swordplay while I am there..."

The strawberry blonde nodded in agreement, "So, who's the lucky four?"

"Well, I only have three more to find."

"What do you mean, taichou?"

"I would hope that my fukutaichou would be accompanying me in this venture." The white haired man said with a smile, looking up at his assistant captain, trying to get a glimpse of her gray eyes, but couldn't due to certain...obstructions.

Matsumoto slightly flushed at her captain's comment. It was quite the nice gesture to be considered for such an assignment by Hitsugaya of all people. She was a bit lazy - no, _very _- and she was quite surprised that he would choose her over several other hardworking shinigami that were just as strong as she was.

"So I expect you not to be lazy and to actually try to help."

The big breasted woman sweatdropped, sighing. All good things come to an end...

"Yes, taichou." She said in an exasperated manner, scratching her head in a languorous manner, and her eyes looking like that of a little kid who had been scolded.

Hitsugaya gave a yawn as the two began walking.

"Tired?" Matsumoto began, looking down at her white haired superior.

"No, no, not at all." Hitsugaya replied stubbornly, keeping a strong front up.

"Ah, denying the truth as always." The assistant captain said as she kept her pace with the quickening one of her shorter taichou, "But I wouldn't be surprised."

"Why's that?" He looked up, turquoise questioning gray.

"Well, you probably stayed up all night watching that cutie Kuchiki sleep."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened and his face flushed in embarrassment, "N-No, I didn't!"

"Hey, I wouldn't blame you." Matsumoto smiled lazily, looking up at the clouds moving slowly by, "Prolly thought about jumping her bones, too, ne?"

"M-Matsumoto!"

"I understand...a guy your age...emotions fly...yup. All makes sense now why you were so insistent on helping her."

Hitsugaya growled, "That's a stupid accusation!"

"Stupid? Really, now your words match your age."

"Damn...you."

Matsumoto smiled as she followed Hitsugaya around the corner and to a very old friend's house. "Oi, why are we at Hinamori's house?"

"Because I was gonna ask her to come too."

Matsumoto closed her eyes and smiled warmly, "Ah, makes sense."

"What does?"

"Oh, you seem angry with me, so I won't bother to elaborate."

"That's probably for the best."

Suddenly, a bright and cheery voice called out from the door frame, "Toshiro! Rangiku!"

Both the aforementioned people stopped, looking at Hinamori Momo who came racing toward the two.

"Hey, Hinamori." The two said in perfect unison, a habit they had picked up from being around each other too much.

"What brings you here?" Hinamori said with a bright smile, looking at her childhood friend and his assistant captain. "I'm glad to have you visit me."

Without any further delay, Hitsugaya got straight to the point, "Matsumoto and I are going on an assignment to the human world and were wondering if you would like to come with."

"It was mostly taichou's idea." Matsumoto interrupted.

"M-Matsumoto!" Again, for the second time that day, Hitsugaya Toshiro was a very embarrassed shinigami.

Hinamori only laughed lightly and smiled at them, "Sure, I don't think Aizen-taichou and I have anything important to do in terms of work, so I'm up for it. May I ask why?"

Hitsugaya - without the help of the nerve-wracking commentary of Matsumoto - explained everything to the interested Hinamori, who listened to every word the white haired man had to say.

"Okay, that's fine with me!" Hinamori said once all the questions had been asked and everything had been cleared up, "When do I have to be ready?" She asked, placing a hand on her zanpakutou in a subconscious manner.

"We're leaving tomorrow." Matsumoto replied, meeting gray with brown, "So be prepared."

Hinamori nodded and smiled, which Matsumoto thought must be one of her favorite things to do, "Thank you for considering me! I'll be ready by tomorrow." She then raced off into her house, "Thanks, Toshiro, Rangiku."

Hitsugaya gave off an exasperated sigh, "You think she'd call us by our ranks."

"Yes, because I know how much you _love _her calling you _Hitsugaya-taichou_." Matsumoto said suggestively, leaning over and whispering the last words into his ear in a girlish tone, much like that of Hinamori.

"You're a perv, Matsumoto."

"You know it!"

* * *

"HAIYAAA!" 

"Gosh, Dad, you are damn crazy!"

"Aw, come on, son, you gotta toughen up!" Kurosaki Isshin said, putting his fists up and facing his orange haired son, "Abarai, show 'em!"

Abarai Renji looked at the older shinigami with wide eyes, "K-Kurosaki-taichou, I know you mean to make Ichigo stronger, but..."

_Chunk, chunk._

"...throwing poisoned ninja stars at him while he is sleeping is _not _the way!"

Isshin looked at Renji with incredulity, "So you want me to start throwing the stone spears now?"

"NO! Anything but that!" Both Renji and Ichigo screamed.

"Alright, then, if you say so."

"We DIDN'T say so!"

_Shink!_

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto froze completely when a stray spear flew through them and wedged itself in a tree just inches behind them.

"Ah, Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, what a pleasant surprise!" The extravagant Isshin said, holding out his arms and hugging both shinigami tightly. "What brings you here?" He said jovially, brown eyes looking at them with kindness...and weirdness.

"Um...uh...Kurosaki-taichou..." Hitsugaya said underneath the pressure of Isshin's embrace, "I can't...b-breathe."

Isshin sheepishly smiled and let them out of his arms. Closing his eyes with a smile, he said, "Oh, I forgot since you are so little - "

Hitsugaya sent him a death glare.

" - little in the hugging department!" The black haired Kurosaki man saved himself from a beating from the much smaller man, "Yes, yes, not very emotional. Hates to be hugged. That's lil - I mean _big _Hitsugaya!"

Surprising how a man as powerful as Isshin would be intimidated by one glare from a man of lesser stature.

Matsumoto gave off a airy laugh as she stared at the two taichous, "Anyway...we're here, as Hitsugaya-taichou tells me, to talk to Ichigo and Renji about an assignment to the living world."

"Living world!" Isshin said in excitement with a hint of disappointment, "Aw, why didn't you consider me? That makes Isshin sad."

"Dad, don't refer to yourself in the third person. It confuses people."

"Aw, Ichigo hates Isshin."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head with a large hand as he looked Matsumoto in the eyes, "An assignment to living world? What for?"

Hitsugaya quickly explained the whole story, growing quite tired with the repetitive motion. As he talked, both Renji and Ichigo listened carefully, while Isshin was off chasing a bee with his zanpakutou, but then he smelled that Masaki had cooked lunch, but before he could go inside to eat, the enraged bee viciously stung Isshin and he wailed as he ran into the house, dropping his zanpakutou along the way.

"Ma-Masaki! A bee stung Isshin."

"Oh, it'll be okay, don't worry about it. Let me get a bandage."

"It hurts!"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes as he continued with his story, "So, anyway, we have to go protect this girl. She has very high spiritual powers. Almost to shinigami level. And while we are there, we are to get gigai and go with her to school, and also we - or I - have to teach her kido and swordsmanship. Yamamoto-genryusai's orders on the last part. And I have to take at least four other shinigami with me. So far, Matsumoto and Hinamori are coming with me." The white haired man said, turquoise eyes glimmering in the sunlight, "And if you two are up for it, we will have the amount needed to go."

Ichigo gave a smirk, "Sure I'll go. Anything to get me away from Psycho-taichou's training regimen."

"Count me in as well." Renji replied as well, adjusting his sunglasses on top of his head. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow." Matsumoto said, her eyes moving from the orange haired assistant captain to the red haired one.

"Good." Both Ichigo and Renji replied together.

The back door to the Kurosaki house opened and there stood Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu. Yuzu was the first to speak, fiddling with her apron as she did so, "Um, lunch is ready and Mom was wondering if Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto-fukutaichou would like to join us."

Karin looked at the two with her hands casually stuffed into her pockets, "Yeah, she's already set a place, so...you might as well."

Matsumoto looked at the white haired man and smiled, "Well, we don't have any other paperwork to attend to...and no other matters."

"Because you put them all with Ise-fukutaichou."

Matsumoto sheepishly smiled and gave a light, airy laugh at just screamed: "I'm innocent and this man works me to death."

"But," Hitsugaya said, looking from Karin to Yuzu, "...yeah, we can stay."

"Okay!" The two sisters said before making their way back into the house.

Ichigo looked from Hitsugaya to Matsumoto with an air of dread.

"Prepare for insanity."

Those words seemed to describe the meal quite well, the two soon found out.

* * *

It had been two days since her encounter with Hitsugaya Toshiro. But only one had gone by since she last saw him, gliding his way past her on her way to school, zanpakutou in hand, eyes set on her walking figure. It made her wonder what exactly the white haired man wanted. She wondered if he was going to be around her more often, since he said himself that she had an immense supply of energy that hollows would love to eat. But that last theory was probably wrong, since she hadn't seen, nor felt his presence, anywhere around her in the last day. 

Rukia assumed his interest had just faded away, as that hollow did that night.

The raven haired girl sighed as she listened to her friends chat on and on about something that she wasn't even paying attention too. All she saw was that Chizuru made a grab for Orihime and was quickly apprehended by an irate Tatsuki, who stepped on the bespectacled girl's face.

Ishida was sitting beside her, just quietly and calmly taking in all the action that had just happened with a slight smile on his face. His navy orbs looked over to Rukia, and he finally spoke so only she could hear, "Anything wrong?"

Rukia shook her head, "No...I was just thinking."

"About what happened?"

"Yes and no." Rukia didn't want to admit that the white haired shinigami had been on her mind on several occasions lately.

"Ah," Ishida breathed, pushing his glasses up farther onto the bridge of his nose, "Well, you don't have anything to worry about, okay? I'm here for you."

A smile spread across Rukia's features as she connected her eyes with his, "Yes. I know, Ishida. And I'm glad you are."

The Quincy felt his face heat up, and he quickly turned away, forcing his gaze from the attractive woman.

Orihime then spoke up, hazel orbs looking over his flushed and scarlet red face, "Uryu, do you have a fever?"

Tatsuki and Chizuru looked at the quiet man, then to Orihime, who was oblivious to what had just happened.

Before Ishida had time to answer, the door to the classroom swung open, and Ochi-sensei entered, smiling as always, but this time with a renewed vigor.

"Listen up, class! We have some fresh meat today."

"For lunch!"

"No, Inoue," Ochi-sensei smiled, slightly laughing at the girl's naivete, "as in new students."

At this, Rukia tilted her head in interest.

"They're all transferring from a school in Hokkaido...yes, way out in the country, I know." The teacher gave a laugh as she cracked her knuckles, "Five of 'em."

This was unusual. Five students transferring at once? It was a very scarce occurrence, as well as strange.

"Come in, everyone." Ochi-sensei called out to the students, who were obviously outside the door.

Rukia looked at the people walking in - an orange head, a red head, a bun head, and...that strawberry blonde shinigami from that night! How was she here? And a student, nonetheless!

The last "transfer" student came in slowly, almost hesitantly, but walked with a confidence that Rukia immediately would recognize even if she hadn't seen him.

Spiky, white hair.

Greenish blue eyes.

Short. Painfully short.

"These are your new classmates - Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji, Hinamori Momo, Matsumoto Rangiku, and - "

Rukia's eyes never left him, not even after he locked his gaze with hers.

" - Hitsugaya Toshiro."

* * *

_**End Chapter Three.**_

_Oh, yes! I am done! Sorry for the wait, I just couldn't sit down long enough to finish it, but I finally did! And in one day, nonetheless. Shows how much of a life I have. Haha. _

_Anyway, if anyone was wondering, I'm making the Kurosaki family nobles. Like the Kuchiki family in the anime, but sillier. And because Isshin is frikin awesome! _

_Also, I'm not actually sure how people become shinigami, but I'm going to do my take on it. Like, when a person dies, their soul goes to soul society and if they develop their powers enough, that's how they can become shinigami...or something like that. If you have any questions, feel free to review/PM and ask them. I'll be happy to answer them._

_R & R!_


	4. Meet the Soul Reapers

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_Okay, wow, the responses for this fic have been amazing so I have just felt compelled to add another chapter. It might not be as soon as every one had hoped, but it's another chapter...Haha. And also, thanks for clearing up the whole "how spirits become Soul Reaper" thing. Haha. I had forgotten all about the Academy! _

_Anyway, here's chapter four!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Four: Meet the Soul Reapers**

* * *

"What are you doing here?!"

A rather confused and slightly angry Kuchiki stood up, pointing an accusing finger at the her white haired savior, whom she thought would have been gone from her life for good. Violet tinted eyes gazed in awe at the shorter man, connecting with his greenish blue ones.

"Kuchiki, please sit down." Ochi-sensei suggested, looking at the raven haired girl with a strange glance, "This is really...an _odd _way to greet your new classmates."

_But - But that white haired guy is a...well, he's not even **alive**! _She wanted to scream out, but chose not to; she preferred not being called insane. Instead, she settled for a more put together answer, "Uh...haha, okay, Ochi-sensei." She gave a trademark, gleaming, perfect smile in her way - one of the things that has let her get out of trouble so much in her years at the school.

"Anyway, before I was _interrupted_," Ochi-sensei made a point of looking directly at Rukia when she made that statement, "I have to assign seats...hm...okay, there are some extra seats in the back behind Rukia, so make with it." She clapped her hands in a hurried manner, "Chop, chop."

Rukia watched the group of five make their way behind her. They were quite noticeable. One with a big, spiky mop of orange hair. One with scarlet red hair and tattoos. A girl who wore her hair in a bun on the top of her head and had large brown eyes. Matsumoto, of course, was getting all the attention from the guys (and Chizuru, creepily enough) for her uniform choice that could barely conceal her "assets". Hitsugaya just seemed to chill with the whole situation, as if he was used to scrutiny.

Her large, violet eyes studied them as they sat down. She quirked an eyebrow when Hitsugaya looked her way, and the white haired shinigami just gave her a look that told her they would explain to her everything fully as soon as the day was over.

She sighed and turned around, looking out the window from the corner of her eye.

_This is too strange._

Unbeknown to Rukia, a pair of crystalline green orbs were fixated onto her.

Hitsugaya gave a lazy yawn much resembling that of his fukutaichou's and leaned forward, putting his cheek in his hand while listening to Ochi-sensei babble on about some topic...he wasn't really sure. His mind kept wandering off to other things.

He found himself studying her, for some strange reason. Hitsugaya looked at the manner with which she did things. The subtle thought patterns that would cause her spiritual pressure to fluctuate around her in various rays of light were a wonderous subject with him. _No wonder she's a hollow target. She has no clue how to control her spiritual energy. _

Besides the aura of power emanating from the raven haired girl, he noticed the way her hair slightly curled at the ends, barely reaching over the collar of her shirt. And he realized just how small and slender she actually was. Strange, how such a small girl was able to survive something as large as a hollow.

Well, he was just a bit shorter than her.

Just a _bit _shorter.

Not by much.

Ugh.

Hitsugaya quickly felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance at his current stature. _I will grow...I __**will grow**__. I'm just not...an adult yet, and so what if that woman is just a __**bit **__taller than me? It's not like I ca -_

"Stare a hole in the girl, why don't cha?"

Just then the white haired boy realized he had been staring quite hard at the back of the Kuchiki girl. Hitsugaya turned around, not seeing Matsumoto as he expected, but he connected eyes with the curious, chocolate gaze of Ichigo, "Ichi - "

"I mean I know she's pretty and all, but _damn_."

Hitsugaya felt his cheeks heat up. "S-Shut up!"

"Kurosaki, Hitsugaya! Settle down." Ochi-sensei called out to both of the spiky haired youths.

Renji and Matsumoto snickered, while Hinamori looked oblivious to it all.

"Y-Yes, sensei." Both of them said in unison as they turned to face the front in their seats.

As soon as Hitsugaya got settled, he looked up in front of him, and was met with a pair of stunning jewel-like orbs giving him a strange look. _Kuchiki. _He thought automatically, meeting her gaze with his icy one. She quirked an eyebrow for the second time at him before turning back around to listen to the teacher give some lecture on some topic or another.

_Things are off to an interesting start._

As for _how _interesting they would be, Hitsugaya could never guess.

* * *

The raven haired girl sighed exasperatedly as she jammed the small, plastic straw through the juice-box she had bought for break time.

"Kuchiki." A sharp, curt voice penetrated the silence around her.

Rukia spun around, vision clouded with her dark locks for a moment before the wind blew them from her pale features. Her eyes connected with the all too familiar icy green ones of Hitsugaya Toshiro.

"Um, who are you? I doubt we've met before." She replied with a smirk.

The white haired boy glared, "Don't play dumb."

Rukia rolled her eyes as she sipped from her juice-box, savoring the sweetly tangy flavor of it.

Hitsugaya pointed to the box, "What's that?"

"Don't play dumb."

"Oh, you think you're clever, don't you?"

"I like to think so, yes."

"Oi!" An unfamiliar voice made itself known. Rukia looked to see a boy with a head full of spiky orange hair and a pair of seemingly kind chocolate orbs, "Hitsugaya, don't harass her for crying out loud!"

"Hitsugaya-_taichou_."

"Well, since you aren't techinically a captain now, I think I could skip out on the taichou part, Hitsugaya." The orange haired man prodded, and Rukia could sense that this was annoying the short shinigami turned student, but she chuckled anyway at the strange, spiky haired man's statement.

"Ichigo! Hey!" A rather exasperated bun-wearing girl said as she rushed up to the threesome, a ragged looking Matsumoto and red haired guy following her.

"Oh, the gang's all here." The man now revealed to be Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head with a somewhat sheepish look.

"Toshiro, is this her?" The dark haired girl turned to Rukia, chocolate orbs meeting violet ones.

Her calling Hitsugaya by his first name caused some questioning in Rukia's head, _He said he didn't like being called Toshiro...so why is that girl calling him that? Hm... _The wheels in the Kuchiki girl's head began to turn.

Hitsugaya nodded, "Yeah."

The brown haired girl immediately stuck out her small hand, "I'm Hinamori Momo!"

Blinking in confusion, Rukia took this Hinamori girl's hand in her own and shook it, "Uh...okay..."

Sensing her dilemma, Hinamori turned to Hitsugaya and gave him a questioning look, "She doesn't know who _we _are, ne?"

Hitsugaya shook his head no. "I was about to explain before I was so rudely interrupted." He sent a glare in Ichigo's direction.

"Hey, I was just trying to be friendly!"

Shaking his head once more, the white haired boy turned to Rukia, "I requested with the leader of Soul Society for me to be able to keep watch over you."

Rukia tilted her head to the side, knitting her eyes together in a cute confusion that almost made Hitsugaya want to gag. Gag or hug her, that is. But he would never admit the latter out loud, "What for?"

"Because of your spiritual energy, genius." Hitsugaya said in an all-knowing manner, "We have a feeling that if you are to continue to live this carefree life that you are living right now...then your soul will eventually be devoured by a hollow. Sooner rather than later - " He saw Rukia's expression change from one of childish wonder to that of worry, " - but we are here to prevent that, so don't worry."

Rukia took in a shaky breath, "You mean...you requested to come to Karakura...to stray away from whatever duties you had...for _me_?"

"For your power," Hitsugaya began, knowing what the girl must've been heading at, "Both me and Yamamoto-genryusai agree that your power would be very valuable to Soul Society when you move from here to there."

"I have to move?"

Hitsugaya sweatdropped. This girl could be very naive. "When you...pass...from this world."

Her eyes darkened, knowing what he meant, "Oh."

"But that isn't going to happen for a _while_, so you have nothing to worry about!" Matsumoto chimed it, ridding the atmosphere of its gloominess.

Rukia closed her eyes in a smile, "Haha. Thanks."

"Anyway, Hitsugaya brought us all here to protect you," The tall, red haired man with tattoos spoke up, stepping forward, "Oh, and a plus, he gets to teach you the different tricks and trades of the experienced shinigami."

"I thought I was explaining everything." Hitsugaya interrupted, giving the scarlet haired man a look.

"But you always take too long," He replied, closing his eyes in a sheepish grin as the green eyed male turned his glare on him, "Ah...ha..."

"It's the truth, taichou - err, Hitsugaya...haha, gotta get used to that." Matsumoto chirped, giving him a smile, whilst pointing a finger to illustrate a point, "You do rather like to ramble on dramatically."

Ignoring Matsumoto's comment, Hitsugaya turned back to Rukia, "As you know, I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro, that's Matsumoto Rangiku," He then pointed to the orange haired boy, "This is Kurosaki Ichigo." Next he pointed to the red haired male, "That is Abarai Renji." Last, he pointed to the smallest member other than himself, and introduced her, "And this is Hinamori Momo."

Rukia gave a polite smile and cheerily greeted, "Nice to meet all of you."

"AW! Cute!" Matsumoto squealed as she hugged the petite raven haired girl to her, putting her face in a rather..._odd _position, "I can see why Hitsugaya is so enamored by you!"

"I am _not _enamored!"

"Mmpphrrrgg," came Rukia's voice as she pried herself out of the strawberry blonde's grip and gasped for air.

"Is it really that surprising?" Matsumoto smiled brightly, looking from her to her taichou. "He does - "

"I believe she wasn't doing that out of surprise, but due to the fact that she couldn't breathe."

Rukia spun around, "Oh, Ishida! Hello!"

The bespectacled man waved a hand in an unenthused gesture of greeting her. "Hey."

"Boyfriend?" Matsumoto asked without any hint of nonchalance whatsoever.

The raven haired Kuchiki blinked several times before blushing a pretty, deep shade of crimson, "I-Ishida? No, n-no! We're just friends!"

Matsumoto tossed a lock of strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled down at the shorter girl, "Hm, well, if you say so."

It seemed like Matsumoto was the only one to notice the look of hurt that entered Ishida's eyes, leaving as quickly as it came. She patted the Kuchiki girl on the head and gave a yawn mixed with a laugh, "I was only joking."

"Haha, oh, okay," Rukia sputtered out, not meeting Ishida's eyes for a while afterward.

While other details of the mission were laid out to Rukia in full detail, Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealously in his chest.

He didn't know why...

...but it was certainly _there_.

* * *

"Rukia, wait up, please!"

The darker haired girl turned to be met with the wide eyed gaze of Orihime. "Hey, Orihime."

The orange-brown haired girl slowed to a stop as soon as she was side-by-side with the shorter person. She gave a light, airish sigh, twiddling her fingers in the band of her school bag as she looked out ahead of herself with a dreamy expression, "Beautiful day, ne?"

Rukia nodded, a serene smile crossing her lips, "Yes."

The taller girl turned her head, looking down at the crown of Rukia's head, "Are those new students nice?"

"Hm?" Rukia said, feeling a lump form in her throat, "How would I know that?"

"You were talking with them at break today...so I was just wondering." Orihime replied with a tone of innocent curiosity.

"Yeah, they're pretty nice. Want me to introduce you?"

"Oh - n-no, I wouldn't want you to have to do that, Ruki - "

Rukia interrupted her sentence, knowing very well where she was going with it, "I don't mind, Orihime. Actually, I think they'd want to meet you." She finished with a smile upward to the voluptuous girl.

Orihime closed her eyes in a bright smile and moved her head to out in front of her before opening them again, "Thank you very much."

A chuckle emitted from Rukia's lips, "No problem."

They walked in silence for a while, uttering the occasional commentary on their day, classes, and whatnot, before they reached a fork in the road. The orange-brown haired girl sighed and then announced, "Well, this is where we part, Rukia. See you tomorrow!" She threw a hand carelessly in the air in a wave.

"Bye, Orihime. Have a good night."

"You too!"

With that, the two parted ways, as was the norm for a school day for the two. The two had a lot in common, even if they looked and acted completely different from one another.

After all, they both had their experiences with tragedy at a young age.

* * *

Matsumoto Rangiku suddenly felt like a criminal as she watched her taichou try and bust into the very girl's house they were trying to protect. Her strawberry blonde hair whipped about her form in a sea of golden as careful ice blue orbs watched him work, and her voice formed the very question that her mind had been nagging her about for the past few minutes.

"Taichou, are you sure we should be barging in like this?" She spoke with a lazy, yet playful drawl that was expected of her.

"Well, where else do you think we should stay?" The white haired taichou replied, expertly picking the lock with a hairpin he had gotten from Hinamori.

"We could stay at...um..." The aforementioned bun wearing girl spoke up, actually thinking she was on track, but she ended up trailing off and placing her fist to her lips in thought, "Um...we could...ah..."

"See, there is no other place." Hitsugaya said confidently, hearing a satisfying _clink _from inside the lock system, signaling that the door was open. He twisted the knob and opened the door, entering the house before everyone else and surveying the surroundings. It looked exactly the same as it had that one night when he had been there, except for the few things out of place, such as a bag of chips laying open on the couch in front of the television and a sleeping bag laying on the cushions of it.

_Why would she sleep down here? _Hitsugaya pondered, sitting his school bag down on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't wanna stay here just for that cute girl?" Ichigo burst up, earning a glare from the shorter shinigami.

"Ichigo, you've only known her for a day!" Renji interrupted, feeling that Hitsugaya was now royally pissed and he should divert attention from the orange top's remark by saying something.

"What can I say? I know what I like." Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly, a smirk forming mischeviously on his lips.

"You need to be quiet," Hitsugaya interrupted him, giving him a cold stare with those infamous, unfeeling eyes of his, "You're beginning to sound like Kurosaki-taichou."

_That _made Ichigo shut up.

* * *

_**Finally **__I'm home. _

Turning the corner to her house was a welcoming sight for her weary spirits. Too many strange things have been happening lately, and a nice, long, hot bath would do her some good, she knew.

Heaving a sigh as she made it to the door, Rukia looked at the door to her house to find it surprisingly unlocked and cracked open a bit, and she was sure she locked it that morning!

_What the - why is my door not locked?! _She panicked on the inside as she entered the large house. Her large violet orbs searched the area for anything to be used as a weapon. She quickly grabbed an umbrella that was propped up against the side of the door.

She tiptoed into the house, umbrella ready to swing. And although the sight might not have been very threatening, she felt pumped up enough to do a great amount of damage to whoever the hell decided to infiltrate her house.

She heard something in the kitchen and her eyes darted to the swinging door, from behind which she could hear voices.

Her grip tightened on the umbrella, so hard that her knuckles turned whiter than her pale skin already was.

With a swift motion, she kicked open the door, umbrella over her head, and screamed in a tribal manner, "DIE!"

And she hit something, a loud _thump _resounded throughout the house.

She was met with four pairs of confused eyes; there would've been five if the fifth person hadn't been KO-ed with the dreaded umbrella.

"Um...Rukia?" Renji looked at the girl as if she had totally lost it, which she looked as if she had. Her eyes were wide, nostrils were flaring, hair was slightly mussy (from what, Rukia didn't exactly know), and she was holding an umbrella over her head as a means of attack.

Rukia was breathing heavily, and her eyes looked at Renji as he touched her shoulder, his large palm almost taking up all the space of the small area of her arm. "You need to calm down..."

"I need to _calm down_?!" Rukia spat out, looking up at the much taller tattooed shinigami, "You people frikin gave me a heart attack! I thought there was a burgler, mass murderer, or crazed hobo that broke in and was going to kill me!"

_Crazed hobo? _This girl surely had an imagination on her.

Ichigo spoke up, "Okay, we'll explain it all, just sit down and have some of this thing..." The bright haired man brought out a pudding cup, the thin covering on top of the cup had teeth marks puncturing it and it looked as if it had been bitten and sucked on. "Is this what you call _soda_?"

Rukia felt her head begin to throb, "No...that's pudding..." She buried her head in her hands before taking in the appearance of her kitchen. It was in ruins, everything was thrown helter skelter on the floor, some things were on the wall, and - oh, dear Lord...what was that on the ceiling?

She couldn't think of anything else, until Hinamori spoke up kindly, "Um, Rukia..."

"Yes?" She said shortly, looking up at the girl.

"You might wanna go check on Toshiro. You hit him pretty hard with that thing."

Rukia quirked an eyebrow before her violet orbs widened, looking to a crumpled mass of shinigami lying on the floor, a large lump on his head where the umbrella had crashed into his skull.

He looked up, his eyes seeming to blaze with fire. "Ru-ki-a."

_Uh oh, _Rukia sweatdropped, while Matsumoto chirped.

"That's what you get for breaking and entering, taichou!"

* * *

_**End Chapter Four. **_

_I am finally done with it! So glad...I'm so very glad. And I hope you liked it! _

_I know the ending was kind of stupid, but I wanted to end it on a light note, so there it was! _

_And for you reviewers wondering about Orihime's love life in this fic - I actually don't know who to pair her with. But I can tell you it won't be Ichigo. So all you IchiHime haters out there can exhale. To keep with the crackety pairing nature of this fic, I was actually thinking about a RenHime. Because I definitely __**don't**__want her with Ishida or Chad or Ichigo in this fic. Because those pairs are the norm. And I think RenHime is quite cute (dodges random objects thrown at her)._

_Also, Ichigo may seem out of character, but I think his personality might be different if he didn't have to deal with the angst of his mother's death and all that jazz...and thus was born the hippy skippy Isshin-like version you see in this fic! He'll still have his "Ichigo" moments, don't you worry. Lol. _

_Now, please press that pretty button and review with you comments and opinions, I would really appreciate it! _

_Join the HitsuRuki army!_


	5. Matter of Time

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach._

_All these kind reviewers have made me want to start on this chapter early! Hint: Start. Sadly, it doesn't mean it will be finished early, for I have lots of other mess that I have to do. And I have a rather short attention span. Haha. I know that's no excuse, so...HERE! Chapter five is up and hopefully will be as well received as the past four. Haha._

_Anyway, here's the fifth installment!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Five: Matter of Time**

* * *

Migraines weren't fun.

Actually, Rukia had no idea what a migraine was up until now.

Apparently, said condition was a searing pain that pulsed and pounded in your skull due to some loud racket going on twenty four seven or some other random thing. Rukia deemed the cause of her torment the shinigami that had just made themselves at home in her house.

And they hadn't even _asked _her first!

No, no, no. Because the _almighty _Hitsugaya Toshiro didn't need to ask a lowly _human _for her permission to enter _her _house.

_Oh...my... _Rukia thought in annoyance, her head seeming to constrict around her brain with every syllable thought.

What annoyance, you ask?

"No! I want to use the soapy bubble thing in _my _bath!"

"No, orange top! Only beautiful people like myself do that."

"Renji! Matsumoto is being mean - "

"Matsumoto, be nice to Ichigo."

"Aw, Renji, I thought you were more man than that. You seem pussy whipped by little Ichigo."

"I am all _man_, woman!"

"Man woman?"

"I was calling you woman, woman!"

"Toshiro! See how sweet this tastes!"

"Hina - " Aforementioned Hitsugaya's response was cut off by Hinamori shoving a sweet, sticky chocolate in his throat. He chewed slightly and then gave a noise of approval. "Mmm."

Rukia sighed with exasperation as she sunk into her couch. Placing her hand on her forehead in a futile attempt quell her throbbing skull, she gave out a pure growl. "Ugh..."

_Aren't shinigami supposed to be __**mature**__?_

A ringing at the doorbell stopped all further activity. All the shinigami paused somewhat, eyes widening as if afraid to get caught by whoever it was standing at Rukia's door.

"No one bowl me over on the way to the door," Rukia stated crassly, rising tiredly from her seated position and making her way over to the door.

Opening it, Rukia looked in surprise to see none other than Ishida standing there, package in one hand, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose with the other, "Afternoon, Rukia."

"Oh, hello, Ishida," Rukia said politely, giving him a bright smile while saying cheekily, "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Your inferior cooking skills."

"Hey, I can cook!"

"Says the girl who managed to burn _cereal_."

"That was unintentional!"

"That's what they all say." Ishida gave a sarcastic comeback as he proceeded to enter the house, bag full of ingredients to some kind of dish he was preparing for Rukia. He had no clue what was in store for him...

"HOLLOW!"

Rukia blinked and turned scarlet.

Ishida's mouth dropped.

There stood Ichigo, zanpakutou in hands, eyes set in a determined manner, and wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with hearts imprinted on the fabric. His orange locks were slightly wet, as were the rest of his body, as if he had just gotten out of the shower.

The carrot top took in the scenario slowly, and realized that the bespectacled man in front him was indeed _not _a hollow and he had over reacted to the sudden increase of spiritual pressure in the area. A blush was scarlet against his wet cheeks and he turned, "Ah...um...yeah..."

Hitsugaya then walked by, tossing several Hershey kisses into his mouth as he did so, "You really _are_ turning into your father."

"Shut it!"

The raven haired girl looked at the shorter white haired boy with a smile. He had been eating much chocolate by the looks of it, for his fingertips and corners of his mouth were smeared with the dark brown color of milk chocolate that contrasted strikingly with the white of his hair. She walked over to him slowly, her pace steady and quietly confident, and stuck out a hand which the surface of her index finger touched the corner of his mouth and wiped it away, "Now _this_," She gestured to the chocolate now on her finger, "is interesting. A shinigami hopped up on chocolate."

The icy eyed shinigami forced down the blush from his cheeks at her extreme closeness, and retorted with a crass, predictable, reaction of, "I'm not _hopped up_!"

"Okay, fine, you're just addicted."

"I'm not addicted!"

"You have the greatest comebacks in history," Rukia shot back with sarcasm that could drown anybody.

"Thanks." Apparently, Hitsugaya didn't sense the it.

Rukia just rolled her eyes playfully and followed Ishida to the kitchen, where he laid the grocery bag on the counter and began to unload it. "Well, I don't know if I bought enough stuff to make a meal for..." He looked back and counted to himself, "...five extra people, but I can try."

The Kuchiki girl smiled and looked up at him, "You really don't have to cook, Ishida. I'm sure I can scrounge up something and - "

Ishida raised a finger, "Stop right there. Even the very notion of you cooking sends me into shock."

"Hey!"

"And it makes me want to dry heave."

"Ishida Uryu!"

Ishida ignored the little thud his heart made as she said his full name. Instead of completely freezing up like he was known to do, he simply chuckled and placed a large hand on the top of Rukia's head and ruffled her hair in a gentle manner before taking the plastic bag of chicken, as well as some seasoning things, over to the stove, where he brought out a pot.

"What are you making?"

"Broiled chicken and some rice with gravy."

Rukia's small stomach growled at the thought.

"It'll be a while before it's done, but I think everyone will enjoy it."

"Ishida..." Rukia said, looking over to the navy eyed teen who had begun to fill the pot with water.

The bespectacled man turned, "Yes?"

"Do you...know...about the shinigami?" Rukia said tentatively, referring to the group of spiritual beings that were doing kami knows what in her living room at this moment.

"Yes." Ishida said with a small smile. "I overheard at break."

"You know that they're going to live with me too?"

Silence.

Twitch, twitch.

"WHAT?!"

"Ishida, there's smoke coming from your ears..."

The Quincy ignored her statement of the obvious and marched into the living room, where the shinigami had apparently found Rukia's Twister game.

"Matsumoto," Hinamori called out from her comfortable seat on the sidelines, "Right foot blue."

Rukia watched with a wondering expression as the voluptuous shinigami moved her right foot, that had her basically straddling Renji's back like a horse, over to the other side of the red haired man, joining her other foot that was already on the blue circle. She now looked as if she was about to use the Abarai as a lounging chair, much to the hot tempered shinigami's dismay.

Apparently, Ichigo noticed the raven haired man's anger management problems and asked the inevitable question, "What is _up _with you, dude?"

This was the wrong question to ask, obviously.

"What's wrong...WITH ME!?"

Everyone blinked at the man's sudden, seemingly unprovoked outburst.

"Uh, yeah. That's what I asked." Ichigo spoke up again from his tangled position on the Twister board.

"Calm down, Ishida. I really don't know why you're so worked up..." Rukia stated, putting a small hand on the Quincy's bicep, and immediately feeling the tension releasing from the joint.

It seemed that only Matsumoto noticed the way Ishida's face went from the intensity of an oncoming storm to the tranquility of a clear lake in a matter of seconds as soon as Rukia touched his arm.

Ishida looked down at Rukia, who still had her slight grip on his arm, "They're _living_...with _you_."

Rukia blinked, "Is that why you looked like you were gonna rip their heads off?"

"Well, it's like they're...um...mooching off of you."

"Oh, well I don't have any problem with that. I mean, I really can't protect myself with the hollows and all that are gonna be around and I am grateful to have them here to protect me until I can gain some powers of my own!" Rukia beamed at the taller figure, "Besides, it would be nice to have some company..."

"I've been spending the night with you, though, Rukia..." Ishida offered lamely.

"WHAT?!"

The moment between two friends was interrupted by a rather irate looking white haired shinigami standing in front of them. They looked from him, to the pile of Matsumoto, Renji, and Ichigo on the Twister board. His little "outburst" had caused the collapse of the human tower that was formed by playing the game. Obviously, Hitsugaya had been the poor soul on bottom.

"You spend the NIGHT with HER?!" Hitsugaya shouted, a shocked and disgusted, as well as downright angry look, was on his childish features. He pointed his index finger accusingly at the two across from him.

"Well, yeah." Rukia said, blinking with innocence, not noticing the implications of what she had just said.

"You...you..." Hitsugaya stuttered, the finger he had pointed at them shaking with disbelief.

Prying herself out from under the form of Ichigo, Matsumoto gave a grunt as she lifted herself from the bodies around her. After that, she chuckled at Hitsugaya's frustrated expression before walking over to her taichou and placing her hand on his head, ruffling a few spikes of his ivory hair, "Hitsugaya, you perv, jumping to conclusions..."

Hitsugaya grasped the taller woman's hand and removed it from his head. "Matsumoto..." He started, but was cut off by the strawberry blonde.

"Now, it is completely obvious to me that these two haven't slept together."

Rukia chose this moment to pipe up, "But...um, yes we have, Matsumoto!"

Ishida blushed the color of Renji's hair.

Ichigo gasped and fell backwards, further crushing Renji beneath him.

Renji looked like he had seen a ghost.

Hinamori gasped rather loudly and placed a hand to her gaping mouth.

Matsumoto quirked a brow, amused at the Kuchiki girl's statement.

And Hitsugaya...

Oh yeah, Hitsugaya lost it.

"WHAT?! You - you! NASTY!"

Rukia tilted her head, her large jewel-like orbs stared with curiosity at the spasming taichou. "I don't see what's the problem with it. We were about five years old when that happened. It was a sleepover with me and you because your parents were out of town."

Ishida smiled with nostalgia, "Oh yes, I remember that."

Hitsugaya stopped and into his eyes crept realization, as well as a blush that crossed his features that made him look like a tomato with white hair.

"Well, don't you feel stupid, Hitsugaya!" Renji spouted as he and Ichigo began to laugh heartily at the shorter spirit's meltdown.

The smaller shinigami crossed his arms over his chest as he plopped down onto a cushion beside Hinamori, "Shut up."

Matsumoto looked at her captain with an all-knowing glance, _Hm...interesting._

* * *

The dinner Ishida made was absolutely delicious, and everyone wanted seconds, but in Ichigo and Renji's case, thirds, fourths...and so on.

Rukia smiled to herself, happy that her house was lively once more, as she placed her chopsticks down on her plate and rose from her seat. She gave Ishida a grateful smile and patted her stomach, "It was very, very good," She complimented, "Thanks for taking the time to make it."

"No problem." Ishida had to force down his blush, "I'm practically living here anyway."

"I know." Rukia closed her eyes in a bright smile, "And I am happy for that."

This time Ishida couldn't force his blush down from his cheeks, and it spread from ear to ear across his handsome face.

As Rukia left the dining room, she heard Hinamori calling out to her, "Rukia, aren't you going to stay for dessert? Toshiro made some of that pudding stuff in the box!"

Rukia smiled gently at the upbeat girl's antics to get her to stay, "I'm going to eat some later. I'm full right now. Thanks for reminding me, though."

With that, Rukia stepped out the front door and closed it behind her.

Sighing, she plopped herself on the front steps, curling her knees up to her chin and resting the latter on them. She wrapped her arms around her legs, intertwining her fingers underneath them. She closed her large eyes and a smile crept upon her lips. "I think this is all for the best..." She muttered to herself, nuzzling her chin against her knees as a brisk, chilly breeze blew past her, ruffling her raven locks and school uniform that she hadn't bothered to change out of since getting home.

The peaceful quiet was broken when an all too familiar voice rang throughout the night air, "What's for the best?"

Her eyes shot open as she looked up to her left to see the figure of Hitsugaya standing beside her, looking out into the night with an unreadable expression on her features, "Ha..._privacy_."

"Oh, ouch." Hitsugaya stated coolly, a far cry from what he was like just hours ago when Rukia made the infamous statement declaring that she and Ishida slept together.

Rukia chuckled, "Do you want to sit down?"

"No, I'm good."

"Would you please sit down?"

Hitsugaya gave a cocky smirk down at her, "Oh, you don't want me to leave?"

"No, you're just making me uncomfortable. Besides, I'm used to us being...ya know, _similar _in height."

The white haired shinigami turned his head away, crossing his arms, "Is that a jab at me? At my height?"

"It's what you want to make of it, I guess." Rukia shrugged in reply, focusing her gaze out to the street in front of her house once more.

Suddenly, Hitsugaya sat himself down beside Rukia with a 'humph'.

"You didn't have to sit down." Rukia said, not taking her eyes from the scenery around her.

"I know...just didn't want to make you feel..._uncomfortable_."

Rukia didn't know if it was the night air or the way he said that last word that made her shiver, but she knew she didn't like it. Whatever it was. She didn't like the way she suddenly blushed when he said that. She didn't like the way she could practically see him smirk when she heard him say that word. She didn't even know what the deal was with this!

And frankly, she didn't want to know.

"You know, you should've brought a jacket if you were going to be cold." Hitsugaya offered, shedding his air of confidence for a moment and sounding genuinely concerned.

"I didn't need a jacket, I figured." Rukia replied, "Thought it'd still be relatively warm outside."

"Ah..." Hitsugaya acknowledged, nodding his head solemnly as the night breeze came up and whipped a few strands of pale hair around his face. "I'll be back..." He got up and entered the house.

Rukia exhaled a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. How...how could just sitting beside him make her feel like she was suffocating? It was a strange feeling that the Kuchiki girl had never experienced before...and frankly, she didn't know what to think about it, or the slight jump of her heart when she heard the door open, knowing it was him.

Hitsugaya once more lowered himself onto the step beside Rukia, "My cooking debut - chocolate pudding." He said with an air of confidence that Rukia just couldn't help but smile at. The white haired shinigami presented her with a bowl of creamy chocolate pudding.

Rukia eyed it, before looking up into Hitsugaya's turquoise orbs that were focused on her reaction. "Ah, thank you." She said, taking the bowl from his hands into her own. Their fingers brushed one another, and she felt a warmness tingle from her fingers throughout her entire form with that simple touch. She ignored it, or tried to, for her mind was buzzing with thoughts.

He watched her intently as she put the first spoonful into her mouth. "You like it?" He asked with much more childlike enthusiasm than he intended.

Rukia swallowed, and looked over to him with a smile, "It's good for your first try."

Hitsugaya smiled back, "Thanks."

It was strange, the two of them here like this, eating chocolate pudding on the steps to her house in the beginnings of nighttime. But, Rukia had to admit, it felt nice to have someone close to her like this. Someone who didn't know her past, someone new...

A particularly strong, chilly breeze picked up and blasted Hitsugaya and Rukia with a cold wind, causing Rukia to erupt in a fit of shivers, while surprisingly Hitsugaya just sat there on to stoop and took it. No sign of him being cold was anywhere. He looked completely comfortable with the freezing blast of wind that just decided to come out of no where.

Rukia then felt a weight on her shoulders.

She looked to her right to see Hitsugaya's hand hanging limply from her shoulders as he pulled her close into his surprisingly warm, toned chest. It was like the cold wasn't even effecting him. Like he was immune. Rukia blushed a shade of crimson even darker than Renji's hair, but said nothing.

Hitsugaya just kept looking ahead, as if bringing her close was the most natural thing to do. "Can't let you get sick, can we?" He said cheekily, a smile playing on his lips, and Rukia noticed a smile crossing hers as well.

"No..." She replied softly, a barely audible whisper against the silence of the night.

So the two just sat there, in the comfort of one another's company, without a care in the world. As cheesy as it sounded to Rukia, she found herself thinking it felt somewhat natural to be here like this...

_Natural, and somewhat...__**right**__..._

* * *

_**End Chapter Five.**_

_Finally! Wow, how long has it taken to finish this! Don't answer that, you'll make me feel bad! Haha, but hopefully the cute little moment at the end will quell your anger at my lack of updates! Lol. _

_Anyway, it would be really very nice if you reviewed! Also, in advance, I'm sorry for any grammar problems that may be in this fic. I just got like two reviews in one of my other stories that criticized my grammar, when the reviewer spelled GRAMMAR wrong! Like, dude, before you critique my story, learn how to frikin spell grammar! Even if it is a problem, just state it nicely. Because I love all my reviewers dearly! My HitsuRuki FAMILY! (hugs)_

_Okay, I'm done with that piece of rant-o-rama. _

_HitsuRuki Army, FTW!_


	6. A Perfectly Good Heart

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_Alright! Chapter six! Here we go! And it should be quite a doosy of a chapter, though even as I write, I'm not sure where this is gonna go, but I do have a vague idea of it all. So anyway! Thanks to the people encouraging me to get off my lazy ass and update! Much love to ya, and to my reviewers! I heart cha all! _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Six: A Perfectly Good Heart**

* * *

Rukia's first night with the shinigami was anything but peaceful. Between the toilet overflowing (_twice_, mind you!), Hitsugaya's sudden chocolate craze, Matsumoto and Hinamori's fascination with the poster of Orlando Bloom in Rukia's room, Ichigo's penchant for eating anything and everything in sight even if it wasn't edible (which he found out the hard way when trying to devour a pack of Swiffer mop pads), and Renji's loud mouthed comments over the stupidity of humans on television, the poor raven haired Kuchiki hardly got any sleep.

The usual trance-like state of someone deprived of sleep was interrupted when her alarm sounded, forcing her into consciousness. As she opened her violet jewel-like orbs, she yelped, for a pair of familiar turquoise eyes were staring down at her. She shot up, unfortunately causing her head to collide with Hitsugaya's, who immediately clutched his head in pain. "D-Damn..."

"Ne - _ne_?! What the _hell _are you doing in my room, Hitsugaya?!"

"You were talking in your sleep and I heard my name...so yeah." Hitsugaya replied casually, running a hand through his snowy locks.

"N-No...No I wasn't!" Rukia defended, looking the white haired shinigami in the face, careful violet orbs studying his face with scrutiny.

"Um, yes, you were - "

Hitsugaya's rebuttal was interrupted by the door to Rukia's room slamming open; Matsumoto stood in the door frame, looking like a supermodel, even if she was only dressed in the school's uniform. "Oi, Rukia..." She trailed off, looking at the strange predicament that she suddenly found her captain in, "Hitsugaya...wow, being awfully forward, aren't we?" The busty woman chuckled, giving her captain a mischievous look before turning her sights on Rukia.

"Did you want something, Matsumoto?" Rukia asked, rubbing her eyes lazily with the back of her hand.

The strawberry blonde just smiled, "Oh, it slipped my mind..." She found herself trailing off once again, but she picked up where she left off, "I'll let you get ready for school. Come on, Hitsugaya."

Matsumoto grasped the white haired shinigami's wrist and tugged him out of the room so Rukia could get dressed. The dark haired woman glanced at the door as it shut behind them. Quirking a brow, the Kuchiki girl rose from her bed, feeling grateful she hadn't gotten out from beneath her covers while Hitsugaya was in the room, for she slept only in her underwear and a button up shirt. She blushed at the thought of him seeing her like this.

Nonetheless, Rukia walked to her closet and opened the doors to search for a clean uniform. But, to her utter shock and somewhat horror, a carrot topped shinigami came tumbling over from inside the closet, landing at her feet with a crash and a curse.

To say the least, Rukia screamed.

Loud.

And suddenly, Hitsugaya was the one bursting through her door, his sword in his hands, shinigami garb on, and ready for battle.

The girl flushed and looked from Hitsugaya to Ichigo and back again before screaming, "What the _hell_!"

Hitsugaya looked at Ichigo and stomped over to the dazed shinigami, kicking him and sending him flying into the nearby wall, "Idiot!"

Rukia was flustered and she tried desperately to cover her exposed bottom by tugging the hem of her shirt downward, "Get out! Both of you. OUT!"

"I was just trying to protect - "

"Hitsugaya," Rukia cut him off tersely, "I am half naked. You are in my room. You, as well as the orange haired idiot who was sleeping in my closet, need to get OUT!"

The ice shinigami sighed, and grasped Ichigo's collar. Hitsugaya was beginning to think he kicked him a bit too hard, for he was almost unconscious. "Alright," Hitsugaya complied with the angry raven haired girl's demands and left, but not before taking a secret glance at her cute attempt to cover herself.

_Humans... _He rolled his eyes, but the attempt in itself was half hearted, because a voice in the back of his head was taunting him.

_"You know she's cute." _

* * *

After getting dressed, Rukia bounded down the stairs, grasping her school bag that hung on the stair rail as she did so, and made her way into the kitchen. It took her a while to process the sight, but once she did, violet eyes widened.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

Rukia dodged the mess created by frantic shinigami trying to cook and play Scrabble all at the same time (She was beginning to wonder where all these board games were coming from - she certainly didn't remember them.) and grabbed an energy bar from the cabinet beside the refrigerator.

The Kuchiki woman bolted out the door, only to crash into Hitsugaya's back, who was waiting for her outside the door rather patiently, though it would make him late as well. She fell back on her bottom, colliding with the hard floor with an "oomph" leaving her lips as she did so.

"How does someone not even as tall as you make you fall down?" The white haired shinigami said, giving her a look of bewilderment.

"So you admit you're short." Rukia countered, picking herself up from her fallen position.

Hitsugaya rolled his turquoise orbs, "Humans..." He scoffed with contempt.

"You know we're interesting." Rukia playfully defended.

"Interestingly _stupid_."

"Oh, nice. Really nice, Hitsugaya."

The two then began to walk to school. The day was a beautiful one, the kind that many people would be so often to point out to everyone. But neither Rukia nor Hitsugaya felt the need to say anything, for they both knew what beauty this one day had. It was strange, and almost unsettling in a way, that one day could be so nice, without any traces of dark clouds in the sky.

It had Hitsugaya feeling unnerved.

But, as he took a private glance toward Rukia out of the corner of his eye, any unease he felt was immediately voided.

* * *

"Good morning, Rukia, Hitsugaya!" The cheery voice of Orihime chirped as both the raven haired and the ivory haired individuals entered the classroom. The Inoue girl bounded up to the two of them and smiled brightly. "You were almost late, but you got here just in time - "

She was interrupted by the bell.

"Oh...well, ah...haha!" Orihime laughed, scratching the back of her head, "I guess that proves my point!"

The raven haired beauty smiled at the optimistic young woman, "Good morning, Orihime." She replied, finally able to get a word in. Hitsugaya just nodded in greeting, glad that no one took their entrance together in the wrong context.

"Yes," Orihime smiled, "It's a nice day, ne?"

Rukia nodded, but before she could answer, a string of curses barged into her train of thought.

"Dammit, you idiot!"

"Hey, it wasn't _my _fault!"

"Yes, it was, you orange-topped-moron!"

"I didn't mean to spill my juice on you!"

"Like I care! You should know that you don't open a juice box by _jumping _on it, you dumb ass!"

Rukia gulped as she turned to face the object of the problematic situation that had just occurred.

Arisawa Tatsuki was screaming at Kurosaki Ichigo, holding him by the shirt collar and shaking him back and forth, brown eyes blazing, looking ready to kill. Her short black locks were flaring with some unknown wind that came around her. A desk laid on the floor, toppled over and mangled as if some truck had run over it, next to them.

_A devil! A devil in the wreckage! _Hitsugaya thought, stunned.

She was strong, he could tell. Insanely strong. And a beauty too, according to Ichigo, who was blushing slightly from the contact. Either that, or the feisty girl was choking him to death.

"T-Tatsuki!" Orihime squeaked, "U-Um...I don't think Ichigo meant to..."

The girl named Tatsuki didn't seem to notice the long haired girl's plea to help the carrot top. She was more focused on the humongous _yellow _stain on the front of her blouse and skirt. And focused on making this cocky new guy scream for mercy if it was the last thing she did.

Another guy spoke up, "Whoa, Tatsuki...did you have an _accident_?" He chuckled.

Brown eyes flared as she reached out and began strangling both of them.

"Keigo, you moron." Rukia said exasperatedly.

To the delight of Ichigo and Keigo, Ochi-sensei entered the room and stopped the fighting. As soon as everyone sat down - and resumed breathing normally - she said, "Well, I'm sure that was interesting...now, let's get on with the lesson."

Rukia sighed as she sank into her seat, violet eyes trying to focus on Ochi-sensei's lecture, as well as trying to think of what could possibly go wrong next with the culturally dense shinigami she suddenly brought to Karakura. She was really beginning to think Ichigo was a complete moron. Seriously, who opened a juice box by jumping on it? Let alone do it in front of Tatsuki, the second strongest girl in Japan?

An idiot, that's who.

Her thoughts were suddenly drawn to Hitsugaya, who, when she caught a fleeting glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, was working diligently on some kind of problem Ochi-sensei had assigned. He had waited for her this morning, even after everyone else had left. It struck her as odd, and as a sweet gesture despite himself that he would do that.

She sighed and sank further into her desk, looking around the room nonchalantly, and meeting eyes with Ishida. Rukia gave him a small smile when their eyes met, and he returned the gesture, with a hint of a blush that the Kuchiki girl apparently didn't see.

Rukia began to scribble on her paper. A picture of a rather strange looking bunny rabbit and other things emerged during the lecture her teacher was giving, and she started drawing other things. The hollow mask she saw just a few days ago, Ishida and his Quincy bow, and - to her utter surprise - after a few minutes of subconscious doodling, she saw the image of Hitsugaya beginning to take shape, spiky hair, zanpakutou, serious eyes, and all.

She crumbled up the paper and tossed it into her backpack as an afterthought.

He was intriguing, she had to admit, with his icy turquoise stare, his snowy white hair, and his somewhat cocky attitude. The coldness that radiated from him was almost as interesting as the fact that he was, indeed, a shinigami. But even more interesting than all those things was the fact that he was kind to her. Kind. And even when he seemed to be impatient with her, she always got the feeling that he didn't even mean the harsh things he said.

Then again, maybe Rukia was disillusioning herself.

She found herself searching for Hitsugaya's form in the classroom, and found that he had been looking at her. Their eyes met, and her heart gave a strange _thump _in her chest. His eyes looked..._soft_. And she could almost see the hint of a smile on his lips. She could feel herself blush, and she turned away quickly, raven hair spinning around as she did so.

Maybe she wasn't disillusioned after all.

* * *

Lunch came very quickly, Rukia noticed as she entered the lunch room. Usually, she would pack her own lunch to eat, but since this morning she was so incredibly rushed to get to school, she hadn't had the time to, so she resorted to buying lunch from the cafeteria.

She left the lunch line, tray in hand, with various food items on it. Rukia walked to the table where Orihime and Tatsuki sat, eating their lunches.

"Hello again, Rukia!" Orihime chirped and Rukia waved coolly at her. The Inoue girl smiled as she took a bite of her homemade...err...Rukia nor Tatsuki didn't know what it was that the auburn haired girl had cooked today, but it certainly didn't look appetizing. Neither of the dark haired girls wanted to ask...or wanted to know, they decided, so they just ate in silence for a while until...until...

"Ru-ki-aa!" A sing-song voice chirped as a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders quite suddenly.

Rukia started, and turned around, searching for the cause of this sudden interruption. "Keigo...what is it?"

Asano Keigo rubbed his cheek in Rukia's raven locks, "We're gonna sit next to you and Tatsuki and Orihime today!"

"Um...ah...alright," Rukia replied humbly as Keigo and his friend Kojima Mizuiro plopped down on the bench. Keigo was beside Rukia, while Mizuiro took a seat beside Orihime.

The five-some then restarted their chatter and joking, with Keigo's occasional glances at Rukia which were often accompanied by a wily grin. The raven haired Kuchiki girl felt uncomfortable, but didn't let it show; she hid her discomfort with a polite smile and the airy laugh she was known for.

Somehow, during their conversation, Rukia looked up at the lunch line, only to see Matsumoto and Hitsugaya, waiting to get their lunch. But as soon as she looked up, Hitsugaya's eyes shifted to connect with her own. Turquoise orbs flashed with some foreign emotion Rukia wasn't aware of.

But whatever it was, it gave her a chill.

* * *

Hitsugaya clenched and unclenched the fingers of his right hand.

That..._boy_ was practically undressing her with his eyes!

He didn't know enough about this boy...only that his name was Keigo...and that he really wasn't on his good list after all the things he was witnessing.

The hugging her from behind, rubbing his cheek on the crown of her head, the small flirtations with his eyes, his fingers steadily moving closer and closer to Rukia's slender hand...

_I'm going insane._

Matsumoto looked down at her taichou, her eyes softening at the white haired boy's appearance. He looked absolutely annoyed. The strawberry blonde followed his gaze to see it was focused on the lovely Rukia, who was currently being encroached upon by some boy with strange looking eyebrows. "Hitsugaya..." Matsumoto started, getting her superior's attention. "Calm down. We don't want Hyorinmaru to make an unexpected appearance." She gave him a small smile, but sighed when she saw Hitsugaya was practically grinding his teeth together in aggravation.

"Why doesn't she tell him to get lost?" He almost growled.

Matsumoto shrugged, "Why don't you ask her that?"

Hitsugaya looked down, almost embarrassed at his current state.

"But an even better question would be: Why do you care so much, Hitsugaya?" The beautiful shinigami said, a strangely insightful question coming from her usually playful self.

Hitsugaya was silent as he contemplated her words.

It was at this time, Rukia looked up, violet eyes almost searching for him. He moved his turquoise orbs to meet her own jewellike ones. He then saw Rukia look away, bewildered and somewhat flustered.

_Why __**do **__I care?_

* * *

"Hitsugaya..."

The white haired shinigami was genuinely surprised when he found Rukia looking at him with a kind expression, her school bag on her shoulder, ready to head home. He looked perplexed as he asked, "What is it?"

"Are you ready to head home?"

If Hitsugaya were to say he wasn't surprised by that question, he'd be lying. His gorgeous blue-green eyes widened slightly before resuming their normal, cold gaze, "You want to walk home with me?"

Those large eyes of hers moved quickly to the side, then back to his face, "Well, everyone else had left before I had chance to catch up, and I saw that you were the only one of the..._guests_..." She said the word carefully, "...left, so...yeah. And I didn't see any problem with us walking home together, but if you don't want to, I will understand - "

"It's fine." Hitsugaya cut in a bit too quickly, but tried to regain his composure. "I mean, I have no problem walking home with you."

Rukia gave him a bright smile that made her think she was spending too much time with Orihime, and the two left out the door.

Walking onto the street, a breeze picked up, and Rukia shivered. It felt as if it were getting colder, but this was a sinister type of cold... The raven haired girl suppressed another shiver and kept on walking, for some reason not wanting to look like a weakling in front of the strong shinigami walking just across from her.

The two were quiet for the majority of the walk home, until Hitsugaya's curiosity got the better of him.

"So...that Keigo guy..."

Rukia's eyes widened marginally before looking at the ice shinigami, "What about him?"

"Well, it's obvious he likes you."

"And? What are you getting at, Hitsugaya?"

Hitsugaya was quiet for a while; Rukia didn't bother to break the silence, because she was rather flustered that the white haired being would question her about her "romantic" life.

"Nothing." He finally answered, not even looking at her.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rukia pondered, looking at him, wondering when he grew. He was now exactly her height.

He shook his head no, and finally turned to look at her, "No...you did nothing wrong." He bit his lip, wondering why he was so nervous now of all times, "It's just me. I...sometimes wonder about my motives."

"Motives?" Rukia said the word out loud, as if wondering what it meant. She was rather confused as to why Hitsugaya was acting this strange all of a sudden. _What could he mean by "motives"? _

"I just wonder sometimes...if my heart has good intentions or bad." Hitsugaya wanted to slap himself for blurting that out. He hardly ever opened up to people like this. But that stupid...stupid, irrational jealousy bubbling inside him when he saw another person look at Rukia with...feelings more than friendship...he found himself getting a little hot under the collar and more prone to saying what he truly felt. And he found that when he was with Rukia, saying what he felt was quite easy compared to practically everyone else he knew.

Again, Matsumoto's question rang throughout his subconscious.

_"Why do you care so much, Hitsugaya?"_

The first answer that came to his mind was because he was an idiot. An irritated, obsessive idiot. How could he even have the nerve to care who she hung out with, let alone who she was romantically interested in, when he had only known her a few days? Only an idiot would feel that way. And right now, Hitsugaya felt as if he were walking around town with a big sign that had "Idiot, here!" printed in large, bold letters hanging above his head.

His reverie was interrupted by Rukia's sweet voice, without any prior knowledge to his deeds in Soul Society, or to his thoughts about her, or about other things... Things that seemed terrible. Things that seemed as if they would brand him as a bad person. The Kuchiki girl apparently had no preconceived notions about him and his position in the spirit world, which was why the words that came from her lips both surprised and touched him deeply, as if hitting a chord deep within his strong chest.

"I believe you have a perfectly good heart, Hitsugaya."

He stopped, as did she, and he gave her a look as he studied her pretty features. The evening sun was hitting her beautifully, causing her jewel eyes to shine with her smile. The sunlight gave her ebony locks a gorgeous sheen, and made her pale skin stand out. A smile curled his lips.

"I guess what you don't know won't hurt you, Kuchiki."

Rukia giggled as Hitsugaya began walking, suddenly wondering why his heart was thundering in his chest. And wondering about the blush that graced the petite girl's cheeks when she had said those meaningful words, full of innocence and life and hope and praise.

He realized after a few steps that Rukia wasn't following him, so he turned to find out why she wasn't moving...

Hitsugaya's eyes widened and a snarl escaped his lips.

Rukia stood still as a board, shoulders straight and erect, legs locked in place, eyes wide as saucers. She was stunned silent, and staring into Hitsugaya's eyes with a vulnerable look that he couldn't keep his heart from lurching at the sight of.

"Hitsu...gaya..." She said in a pleading voice so scared and unlike her that made Hitsugaya clench his fists and wonder how in the hell he could've missed _it_.

How could he have let his guard down so much?

He cursed.

Behind Rukia stood a hollow.

* * *

_**End Chapter Six.**_

_There's chapter six! Finally, it's finished, I know! Well, at least it wasn't as far apart as the last update! But I swear, the updates will be sooner! I promise ya!_

_I hope I'm not moving things with Hitsu-kun and Rukia-chan along too fast. I mean, they gotta have moments together! So cha. And besides, that makes it more interesting! Haha, well...uhm...yeah. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review with your opinions! They will be very much appreciated! _

_Thanks so much again! The reviews for last chapter were great!_

_Arigato!_

_HitsuRuki Army rox ma sox!_


	7. Flower on the Precipice

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_Alright, here's the seventh chapter! I hope you enjoy it very much. I am soooo sorry to keep you waiting (again) but yeah...SORRY again! I dunno what else to say. Oh! Thank you for your kind reviews! They mean a lot. Haha!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Seven: Flower on the Precipice**

* * *

Icy eyes widened, unblinking, never moving from the scene in front of him.

"Hitsu...gaya..."

Rukia's scared voice was the only thing he could concentrate on, the only thing that was absorbing him. That, and the widening of her frightened eyes, her stiff stance at the mercy of the hollow behind her. Hitsugaya felt a rage that was unlike him and a protectiveness that he felt with only his closest friends. He popped the Soul Candy into his mouth and his gigai jumped away, while his shinigami form posed, ready for a fight, ready to protect this valuable asset to the Soul Society.

Despite being scared out of her wits, Rukia watched in awe as the change happened. She had never seen anything like that in her life, and it was quite amazing to her. The shinigami version of the short boy seemed to be pulled from his gigai body in a swift motion due to the candy he had popped in his mouth. Rukia was so dumbfounded by it, she almost forgot about the deadly hollow standing so close to her.

Hitsugaya's eyes scanned the situation. The hollow was hungry, obviously, and would probably by cocky enough to think that he could attack him before finishing off Rukia. The white haired shinigami had no such plans. He smirked and drew his sword, "Hyorinmaru!"

Immediately, Rukia felt an extremely cold chill envelop her and the surrounding area as the ice zanpakutou was drawn by its equally icy wielder. She could even see where her breath misted in the air in front of her. Goosebumps formed on her pale skin.

The hollow chuckled, "_Mm_, it's been a while since I've smelled a soul as delectable as yours." He reached out a bony finger and stroked her cheek gently, but the point of the skeletal appendage made a scratch down her porcelain face.

Rukia winced as she felt the red liquid trickle down her cheek and stain the collar of her school uniform.

Hitsugaya flashed Hyorinmaru and jumped toward the hollow. In mid air, the hollow addressed him, "Well, I see you're not going to make this easy." He scoffed, clearly underestimating the shinigami's strength. He then focused the eyeless sockets of his mask to Rukia, "I'll deal with you later."

And with a swift movement, the hollow smacked Rukia so hard that she flew across the street, slamming into the hard wall of a building. "AH!" She cried out in pain as her back connected with the concrete. Blood flowed from many open gashes and wounds on the Kuchiki's body, staining the building and the sidewalk with the crimson fluid.

"Kuchiki!" Hitsugaya bellowed, shocked and disappointed that he couldn't have done anything. He was still in the air, barrelling toward the hollow. His icy gaze was lit up, it seems, by thousands of flames, "You're _dead_, hollow!"

Before his sword could give the first strike, Matsumoto appeared in a flash of shunpo, "Taichou, what happened?"

"Get Kuchiki out of here!"

The strawberry blonde looked puzzled, "What?"

"The hollow injured _Rukia_!" Hitsugaya didn't seem to notice that he said the girl's first name, "She's losing too much blood; we need to get her out of here and to Hinamori. Now!"

Matsumoto looked at him with understanding eyes, "Yes, taichou."

And, unlike him, she did notice that he called her by her first name.

The female shinigami did only two shunpo, taking her over to where the bloody Kuchiki lay. Her eyes scanned the extent of her wounds. A terrible gash, about the length of her back, was open and soaking everything with blood. Her legs and arms were tattered with cuts and scrapes. The cut on her cheek was dripping blood at a steady pace. Yet, Rukia still was conscious, looking at Hitsugaya, but her eyes cut to Matsumoto when she suddenly appeared. "Matsu...moto..." She managed to say before coughing up what looked like more blood.

The busty woman lifted Rukia's lithe frame into her arms and bolted.

"Matsu...moto..." Rukia trailed off.

"Yes, Rukia?" Matsumoto didn't meat Rukia's concerned, weak eyes as she shunpoed.

"Don't leave Hitsugaya...by...himself..." She pleaded, looking at her with a look Matsumoto could only identify with guilt. "It...was my...fault..."

"What?"

"I...thought I sensed something...but...I didn't...say anything...and..." Rukia could barely get her words out, "...and I _let_...this happen."

"You're not making any sense." Matsumoto said curtly, worried, "It wasn't your fault. If taichou couldn't sense it, then I doubt - "

"I was talking to Hitsugaya...and it...was a distraction..."

"Rukia, no it wasn't," Matsumoto insisted, looking down at her. She looked so fragile, like a porcelain doll, "And I'm sure Hitsugaya-taichou wouldn't see it as that. So don't you worry. Just concentrate on hanging on until I get you to your house."

_Hanging on? _Rukia thought, _Are my injuries that bad?_

She knew she lost a lot of blood. So much so it was staining the blonde shinigami's robes with crimson all across the front and down her legs. She was feeling dizzy and weak, but thanks to the steady aura of Matsumoto's spiritual pressure, she was maintaining consciousness. It seemed to make her feel better, though Rukia couldn't help but feel guilty at her own foolishness. She knew she had sensed something, but...but...

Rukia coughed up blood once more, making Matsumoto curse underneath her breath with a hinge of desperation, "Dammit..."

Suddenly, Matsumoto came to a hault, and it caused Rukia's head to go into a whirl.

"_Rukia_! What happened to Rukia?"

_Ishida..._

Matsumoto looked at the Quincy, "Hollow attack. Hitsugaya-taichou is taking care of it right now..." The blonde trailed off, looking from the bundle in her arms up to the bespectacled man. "Ishida...do you think you could take Rukia to her house? Tell Hinamori what happened. She's the most proficient in kido and healing techniques among us. She can help Rukia get better..."

The navy blue orbs of the dark haired man looked with sympathy and pain at the crumpled, bloodied form of Rukia, protectively hugged against Matsumoto's bosom.

"Sure." Ishida said with steely determination. Rukia was hurt, and as far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered than keeping her safe and healing her.

Rukia felt herself being passed from Matsumoto's soft form to Ishida's hard, muscled chest. She realized idly that his arms were much more toned than she had ever given him credit for. Despite herself, she felt heat rush to her cheeks.

And Ishida ran.

The raven haired man held her close to his chest, a little too close, for he felt Rukia wince, "I'm sorry," Ishida said apologetically, biting the inside of his cheek so hard he tasted blood.

"It's...fine..." Rukia said, smiling weakly. Her jewellike orbs widened marginally, "Don't worry..._Uryu_..."

His heart stopped. Must've been the blood loss - he was hallucinating for sure. Kuchiki Rukia just called him by his first name for the first time since they became friends.

Memories flooded his subconsciousness. For a moment, he was swept back to the first time they met as kids. Nostalgia pricked him like the thorn of a rose in his side as he felt Rukia's ragged breathing against his ribcage.

_"I'm Rukia! Kuchiki Rukia! Why are you by yourself?"_

_"I...they pick on me..."_

_"Oi, that's just because they're jealous! You look smart, so that's most likely why!"_

_"I look...smart?"_

_"Of course! You're wearing glasses, so you must be pretty smart!"_

_He laughed, and she joined in._

_"If anyone picks on ya, I'll get 'em for ya! Don't you worry! I know karate!" _

_He smiled and she returned the gesture, "I think I'll be alright. I have ways of defending myself." She had no idea, of course, that his spirit energy was as high as it was. _

_"But, just in case, wanna be friends? I'm new here and I don't really have many friends..." She was grasping at straws, desperately wanting a friend. _

_"Sure!" Young Ishida's voice was bright with excitement as he answered._

_"What's your name?"_

_"Ishida Uryu."_

_"Ishida-kun!"_

_"Just Ishida, please."_

_Rukia smiled, the dimples in her cheeks showing, "Hai!"_

_Ishida smiled back. _

_"I think we're gonna be great friends, Ishida!"_

_His navy blue eyes were soft when he answered. _

_"Yes...me too."_

As Ishida ran, he felt the quiet surge of desperation that came whenever Rukia was in trouble or in danger or if anything was harming her in any way, shape, or form. His heart thudded heavily in his chest as he felt Rukia groan and move in to him closer, her pale fingers, caked with blood, grasping onto his white shirt. The shirt that was becoming stained with her blood. He felt himself grow pale with worry as he realized just how badly she was injured and his pace quickened.

"Ishida..."

He cast his eyes downward to meet the crown of her head. Her violet orbs were dark with worry, "Don't look like that...I hate it when you look like that, Ishida."

The Quincy scoffed lightly, jokingly, "Well, I see you're back to calling me Ishida, now."

"Ne? Oh...I'm sorry. The name...slipped."

"Don't apologize. I don't care what you call me." Ishida said, his tone desperate.

"But you said...when we met...to call you Ishida."

_She took it too literally. _He smiled. "Call me whatever you want."

"...Mr. Sillypants?"

Ishida laughed roughly, the desperation still not leaving him, "Wrong time to joke, Rukia."

"...sorry..."

He cradled her as tight as he could without harming her, and dipped his head to meet the crown of hers. His lips barely brushed the flesh there, where her raven hair met her pale skin, "You never need to apologize..." He whispered, causing involuntary shivers to go down Rukia's spine.

And he ran with her like that, as if holding her like this was what was going to save her, when it really wasn't. It was actually going to be Hinamori's healing techniques. _Shinigami _healing techniques.

He, a Quincy, was relinquishing control to a bunch of _shinigami _- he thought the word with venom - to care and protect and heal the girl he cared so much about.

The girl he..._loved_.

He thought the word fleetingly. He had known he felt that way about Rukia for a very long time, and he didn't need to dwell on it, not when Rukia was so close to...to...

He shook his head, ebony strands flying into his sight just as he turned the corner to arrive at Rukia's house. _Finally! _He thought with relief as he opened the door to find the three other Soul Reapers in her house, casually talking and eating at the kitchen table. "OI!" He shouted, his voice louder than usual with distress. "Hey! Hinamori, right?" He looked at the bun-wearing girl with worried eyes.

Hinamori spoke up quietly, somewhat intimidated by the intensity of the navy eyed man, "Y-Yes..." But all the hesitance vanished as she laid eyes on the broke Kuchiki in his arms, "Rukia!"

"Yeah," Ishida acknowledged as he stomped into the living room, "Come here, will ya!"

Hinamori, followed by Ichigo and Renji, walked swiftly, following Ishida's almost inhuman grace, "Wh-What happened?"

"Hollow attack." Ishida said callously, looking from the brown eyed girl to her orange and red haired partners. "Matsumoto said you're the most proficient in kido and healing...and she told me to come to you. Can you do it? _Can you heal her?_" The last question was fueled by the passionate desire to have Rukia back, safe, smiling, and calling him an "idiot" all over again. Her smile...he wanted to see her smile again.

Her skin was ghostly pale; she had lost a lot of blood. His heart thumped unevenly as Hinamori nodded solemnly and approached as Ishida gently put Rukia on the couch. "I can do it." The dark haired girl said with absolute certainty.

She knelt beside Rukia's body as Ishida watched carefully, closely. Hinamori turned Rukia on her stomach gently, and her kind, brown eyes widened at the extent of the damage. She pushed the girl's blood soaked shirt up to her shoulders and then held her hands out, just barely touching the wounds. She closed her eyes, said a command, and a pink light came from the palms of her hands and bathed Rukia's pale back in it's carnation colored light. Hinamori opened her eyes and saw the gash closing. She then moved to her legs and arms, healing the wounds there. She was quiet all during, only the hard breathing of the injured girl could be heard.

Hinamori turned Rukia back over so she could lay on her now-healed back. She pressed the palm of her hand to the long cut on the Kuchiki girl's porcelain cheek and her kido healed it - it was as if there wasn't a wound there in the first place. The only indication that she had been wounded in the first place was the dried blood caked on her skin and clothes.

The slender girl rose from her kneeling position and patted her hands against her uniform skirt before looking at Ishida and smiling gently, "She's fine now, Ishida. No worries." And she smiled brightly.

Ishida stared incredulously, unblinking, at the cheerful girl, who acted as if she did this every day. "Thank...thank you, Hinamori."

"Anytime."

Hinamori then moved from the living room, leaving Ishida alone with the now unconscious girl, healed and laying on the couch.

Ishida took her blood stained hands in his and smiled down at her, "I'm glad you're okay, Rukia."

She stirred slightly, and made a slight groaning noise.

"...Hi...tsugaya..."

He tensed at the name, but then felt warm when the next name uttered was his own.

"...U...ryu..."

* * *

"Pathetic."

Hitsugaya scoffed as he slung his sword back into its hilt. The hollow wasn't much of a challenge. Though, he figured his rage at the damn thing for hurting Rukia had helped him defeat it as quickly as he did. He ran a hand through his snowy white hair and groaned as transferred back into the form of his gigai. His icy eyes were hard like turquoise gemstones as he got the image of the thin woman slamming against the wall as hard as she did... He growled at the memory.

"Protective, are we?"

"Matsumoto!"

"Who else?"

Matsumoto walked forward, smiling in a strange manner as she approached her shorter captain. Hitsugaya looked at her as if she was missing something. She didn't elaborate on Rukia's condition, so he quickly said, "Kuchiki! Where is she?"

"I gave her to Ishida to take to Hinamori. I wanted to help you, taichou, but I got here and you were just so absorbed in the fight...and it was over too quick for me to actually get into it anyway..."

"Is she okay?"

The strawberry blonde laughed lazily as she ran a hand through her thick hair, "I'm guessing so. Ishida took off like the hounds of Hades were on his heels."

_Understandable. _Hitsugaya thought. He would've done the exact same thing if he was in Ishida's shoes.

"So, let's go check on her, ne?"

"Yeah." Hitsuagaya agreed, breaking into a run.

* * *

The two arrived minutes later, being slower in their human forms than they would have liked.

Hitsugaya practically busted down the door, and looked from side to side in the Kuchiki's house. His eyes wandered around the rooms in front of him, then he saw Hinamori's smiling face, looking down at him, "I knew you'd be here soon." She said proudly, looking at the icy taichou. "Rukia's in the den, on the couch. Sleeping. Ishida's gone out to get some groceries to make dinner."

"Ah, alright."

Hitsugaya pushed past Hinamori, uninterested in whatever she was about to say. He realized he didn't care unless it involved Rukia's condition. Or her getting better. He padded along the house slowly, carefully, as if to not disturb Rukia while she slept.

Matsumoto let him go, feeling like she should give him a moment or two alone with the exhausted raven haired girl.

The white haired shinigami crouched beside Rukia's still body, caked in blood still. The sight sent a chill of fear through him - she was too still, too pale...all that _blood_. His eyes searched, and found that her chest was moving up and down slowly, indicating that she was still breathing. He also saw the faint pulse of her spirit energy around her form. He immediately relaxed. She was _alive_.

Her eyes were closed peacefully, the dark lashes casting shadows on her cheeks. The raven locks of her hair were splayed out along the pillows of the couch, being propped up by a large white one that was no doubt gotten from her bedroom. Her hands were relaxed. One was laying over her flat stomach, the other was up beside her face. Her lips were parted slightly, a few specks of dried blood clinging to them, and she breathed in and out slowly, but steadily.

_She's going to be alright._

That thought alone was enough to send Hitsugaya into a comfortable place. His eyes softened as he heard her groan softly. Not in pain, but in contentment in getting some rest.

The rage boiled through him again.

He would kill whatever thing harmed her. Rip it to pieces, then set fire to whatever was left. Not caring. Without remorse. If anything so much as touched her in the wrong way. If she was in danger of getting hurt or in a serious condition like she was just a few minutes ago, he would protect her without a second thought.

Shaking his head, he removed the thought of her being hurt from his mind. She was safe now. That was all that mattered. She was safe and his mission to train her and develop her powers wasn't in vain at all.

He bit his bottom lip as he heard Rukia whimper slightly.

"...no..."

He blinked slightly, and looked at Rukia in wonder. _What's going on?_

"...don't get hurt, Hitsu..."

Turquoise eyes widened. How could she possibly be worrying about him when it was her life that was in danger?

_Stupid, selfless, little human._

In contradiction to his thoughts, he gently reached out and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"...be safe..."

He chuckled at her skewered view of things. She was the one who wasn't safe, and he was the one with the power, the strength, the intelligence, to protect her. She shouldn't be worrying about his safety. Not at all.

He heard her words repeated in his head - _be safe_.

A smile crossed his lips.

"Same to you, Kuchiki."

With that, he reached out and pushed a stray lock of hair away from her tired features.

"Same to you."

* * *

_**End Chapter Seven.**_

_WOW! I finished two chapters in the same day! Chapter fifteen for Play My Song and then chapter seven for good old Wheel of the World! I'm shocked! I thought I would never get around to updating this one, but I've been reading a lot of great Bleach fanfics and they have just gotten rid of the writer's block I had for this chapter. _

_Please forgive me for holding out this chapter for so long! I really have been stuck, not knowing how it was going to turn out, with it and now...well, here it is! So please review! I will do my best to get out chapter eight as soon as I can. Being a senior in high school is no walk in the park. Haha. Busy, busy, busy._

_Anyway, thanks so much for clicking on my little HitsuRuki fic and reading! It means a lot. _

_Arigato!_


	8. The Will To Be Strong

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_Thanks so much for your kind feedback! I really appreciate it! It makes me want to work on this story even more! I am so happy that everyone liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Eight: The Will To Be Strong**

* * *

"_Rukia…"_

_The raven haired girl gasped, looking around in all directions, "Ne? Ne! Who's there!"_

"_Your soul…mm," The voice continued, "It smells __**delectable**__."_

_Hands reached out, grasping for the Kuchiki woman. Bony fingers interlocked around tufts of her ebony black hair and pulled her deeper into the blackness that she was surrounded by. Violet eyes widened in a panic as she struggled to break free of the hold the creature had on her. Her arms flailed in front of her, weakly, as she swatted at something…__**anything**__ to protect her from the horror that was enveloping her. A scream tore from her throat as she connected with something. It wasn't a scream of fear, but one of pain._

_Rukia brought her hand to her face and examined the damage. Her hand was swollen and bleeding, blood trickled from the pinky-side of her hand to her elbow in a long, deep gash that was almost to the bone. _

"_Now, now," The disembodied monotone said, "Don't fight. It only makes it harder for you."_

_She felt the cold breath on her face, misting around her, and she whimpered as she felt the object come closer to her._

_Suddenly, there was light._

_Brilliant, blinding light illuminated every inch of the space where she was. There was no space left untouched by the white light. It took a while for her eyes to adjust, but when they did…_

_She screamed._

"Rukia, _Rukia_!"

"_Kuchiki_!"

"Rukia!"

A cacophony of voices awoke her from her slumber, all sounding concerned and scared for the petite girl's well-being. The Kuchiki girl was jerked up by a pair of strong hands, while another was feeling her back, no doubt where her wounds used to be.

Rukia looked around, wide eyes seeing nothing and too much all at the same time.

"Uryu…Matsumoto…Hitsugaya…" She murmured, her eyes almost watering with relief.

Her nightmare _wasn't _real.

She started gasping in as much air as she could. Her hands wound themselves into Ishida's shirt. The raven haired man's hands were on her shoulders, while Matsumoto still searched her back for her wounds. Hitsugaya just stood beside them, a worried look marring his attractive features. Rukia gulped and finally found her voice, "Nothing's wrong…I'm fine."

"You didn't _sound _fine, Kuchiki." Hitsugaya said, looking at her with eyes of ice that penetrated her very heart.

She blinked from Hitsugaya to Matsumoto to finally Ishida, who still had her shoulders trapped between his bony, yet strong hands. He was pale, paler than usual, and looking at her with as sense of urgency that boggled her mind. His navy eyes were intense, and she felt shards of ice solidifying in her heart. All these faces had been in her dream. Her lips parted, desperately wanting to tell them what happened, but thought better of it. Wouldn't want them getting the idea that this was all too much for her. She needed to be strong. Kuchiki Rukia had been through far worse than a simple nightmare. And she wouldn't let her friends be so worried because of a stupid night terror.

But here they were, looking worried anyway.

"You were screaming in your sleep, Rukia," Ishida quietly prodded, his thumbs working in smooth, massaging circles on the fronts of her shoulders.

Rukia looked at Ishida, her violet eyes wide with worry and desperation. She so badly wanted to collapse into his arms and sob. But she wouldn't. She _couldn't_. They would see that as weakness. But her shoulders shook anyway, giving her away.

She didn't have to collapse into his arms, it turned out. Ishida gathered her in his thin, strong, muscular arms and held her tightly against his chest. Rukia buried her face into his shirt, fists clenching into his shirt.

"_What happened?_" Hitsugaya demanded in a commanding voice.

Ishida shot him a glare, "Can't you see she's shaken up? The last thing she needs is you yelling at her. Get a grip!"

Matsumoto chuckled and slung an arm around Ishida's shoulders, "Taichou acts that way when some one he cares about is hurt."

Her whisper was slight, but both Rukia and Ishida heard her. The Kuchiki girl looked up from her position in Ishida's arms, large eyes curious, searching. The strawberry blonde girl sent her a reassuring smile and Ishida felt her arm tighten around his thin shoulders, as if reassuring him as well. Reassuring him of _what _exactly, Ishida couldn't be sure.

"What did you say, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya said in a paranoid manner, but the demanding tone never left his voice.

"Nothing, taichou."

"Whatever…" Hitsugaya rolled his icy eyes and walked closer to the girl who was enveloped in Ishida's arms. "Kuchiki…are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Came the weak reply.

His hard eyes softened, turning from sapphire gems into a pool of turquoise. "Whatever it was, you can tell us."

Ishida noticed how when Hitsugaya said _us_, it sounded like it meant _me_.

"I…know." Rukia said, her eyes not leaving the white haired shinigami's. "I just…don't want you…don't want anyone…to think that this is too much. That I can't handle this. I want to be strong, but I had - the dream…"

Hitsugaya quirked a quizzical white eyebrow, "A dream?"

Ishida looked down at her with kind eyes, "Dream?"

Matsumoto looked at the scene in front of her with curious eyes. Curious as to what Rukia's dream was about, but also curious as to the protective poses of both the males surrounding the Kuchiki girl.

"It's nothing…nothing important. Don't worry about it, Uryu, Hitsugaya…" Rukia said selflessly, sighing comfortably against Ishida's strong shoulder.

_How obvious. _Matsumoto thought, giving the Quincy a smile, and noting at how the raven haired boy was looking down at the crown of Rukia's head with the tenderness that looked like someone looking at their lover. _But sweet._

The sight of it made Matsumoto's heart clench, and she raised a loose fist to the center of her chest, as if to try to decipher why it was like that.

"Uryu…"

_She's taken to calling him by his first name. _Matsumoto smiled, and this too, caused a warm feeling to enter her heart by the very sight of Ishida looking at her with pinked cheeks and wide, happy eyes, just at her calling him by his first name. _Wonder what caused the change._

"Yeah?"

Ishida could sense that she wanted to get up, so he loosened his hold on her and she pried herself free, before getting up from the couch and standing on her own in her tattered, bloodied school clothes. She looked down at herself and a genuine chuckle escaped her lips, "Well, there goes this uniform."

Hitsugaya felt a small smile crack on his lips despite himself. Even in torn clothing that hung like rags around her, clothing that was stained with dried blood, she still looked…_cute_.

She walked forward, her small feet taking hesitant, cautious steps, as if she was afraid they would give out beneath her. Rukia didn't want to mention it, but she felt slightly woozy, light headed.

Rukia pushed herself forward, though, maybe too forcefully, for the next thing she knew, the ground was spinning beneath her, her head was swimming, and she felt her feet give way underneath her. She fell forward, throwing out her hands to brace herself for the fall, squeezing her eyes shut in the process, waiting for the ground.

But the ground never came.

Instead, a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around her. But these arms weren't the familiar ones of Ishida, nor the feminine ones of Matsumoto - she was familiar with both of the embraces, however fleeting or lingering they may have been. This one was unfamiliar, foreign to her, but pleasant nonetheless.

She wondered idly who it was for a moment before she opened her clenched eyes to be met with the intense gaze of Hitsugaya. His chest was pressed tightly against her, and she realized he had shot forward in the midst of her falling to catch her. His arms were taut, toned, and securely wrapped around her thin form.

His eyes bored into hers and Rukia felt her heart skip a beat. "You alright?"

Rukia could only manage a nod, and then it was over. Hitsugaya let her go, waiting with anxious eyes as she righted herself, waiting for a moment she would falter and he would have to save her again. She seemed to be okay, so his gaze relaxed, but the tendons in his muscles didn't. They were flexed, his whole being ready to jump forward at the slightest hint of weariness threatening to overwhelm her.

She was free of his arms, and her whole body was tingling due to the contact. Rukia exhaled a breath she didn't even know she had been holding as she gulped shakily, "Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit dizzy is all."

"Not surprising," A suddenly sweet voice said from across the room, her brown eyes kind. Hinamori looked at the three people beside the couch from her position at the large opening that connected the living room to the kitchen, "You lost a lot of blood, Rukia."

Rukia blinked, obviously not used to having the bun haired girl talk to her, "Ah…is that so…" She did feel oddly drained, maybe that was the reason why.

"Hinamori healed you," Hitsugaya spoke up, sending a kind look in the shinigami's direction, one that sent slivers of ice deep into Rukia's stomach for some unknown reason, "She's the one most proficient with that…that and kido."

"You're welcome." She said airily, smiling gently.

"Oh, uh," Rukia said awkwardly, "Thanks, Hinamori."

"No prob."

Rukia idly wondered why Hitsugaya was suddenly looking at Hinamori so tenderly. Maybe it wasn't sudden. Maybe he had always looked at her that way and Rukia was too distracted to notice. Distractions had been commonplace in the Kuchiki household lately, come to think of it.

"I'm going to take a bath…" Rukia announced suddenly, her heart thudding as she did so. From the fact that she was dizzy or the fact that Hitsugaya just held her, she didn't know. "I smell like blood and sweat…" She said idly, mostly to herself.

"Need help up the stairs?" Hitsugaya offered; Ishida gave him a dirty look.

"I'll help her." Matsumoto said, swishing away, "And I'll guard the door, too, so no perverts will peak."

As she said the word _perverts_, she looked pointedly at both Hitsugaya and Ishida.

"Come on, sweetie." Matsumoto grasped on her arm, feeling the thinness of it in her slender hand, between her long fingers. The strawberry blonde smiled to herself at just how vulnerable Rukia felt at this moment. But she could also feel the reluctance to grab hold of Matsumoto's shoulder. She didn't want her help, but she needed it.

"It's okay, Matsumoto," Rukia began. "I don't need any help, really."

"You're ashy pale, kid, and you look like you can't even stand on your own. I'll help you. No excuses, Rukia-chan."

Rukia sighed as she relinquished control underneath Matsumoto's statement. It was the truth, though. She did feel like hell. Like she had gone through hell and back, to be accurate. The raven haired girl guessed it would be to her best interest to at least let Matsumoto help her.

As they walked toward the stairs, she felt eyes watching her every move.

"We were all worried sick about you, Rukia-chan."

Large, jewel-like eyes blinked in an innocent gesture, "Really…?"

"Yup." Matsumoto said, grinning down at the shorter girl, "Really."

Rukia felt warmth encircle her heart. _They're all so kind…I truly don't deserve this…them caring so much about me…_

They were at the top of the stairs now, at the landing, and Matsumoto helped her into her room, where she helped Rukia pick out the clothes she would change into after her bath. Certainly, the uniform she was wearing right now wasn't reparable, not even with Ishida's mastery in sewing and Home Ec. No way anyone could save the remnants of what the Kuchiki girl currently had on.

Rukia ended up getting a pair of baggy sweatpants and a extra large, dark purple t-shirt, along with underwear, of course, and taking it to the bathroom, Matsumoto following carefully, every time Rukia stumbled, she would reach out, lightning fast, and lock her hand around her arm to keep her from falling to the ground.

The blonde haired shinigami noticed the sweat that dewed on Rukia's brow, and it immediately concerned her. Rukia should be resting. But, she had to admit, she would sleep much better once she was comfortable and clean. Matsumoto took Rukia by the shoulder and steered her into the bathroom, where Rukia got a look at herself for the first time since the hollow attack.

"Oh, my…"

To say she was stunned was the lightest adjective anyone could use. Wide eyes, tinged with tiredness, stared back at her from the mirror. Her hair was in disarray, and she could see dried blood caked into it. The cut on her cheek was gone completely, but the blood that had run from it and onto her neck and collarbone was also dried. Her uniform was pretty much torn to shreds. The back of it hung open like a hospital gown, and she could see the dried blood that was smeared all over the porcelain skin of her thin back. Her skirt was also in tatters, and her legs were lightly covered in dark blood. She bit her lip and tasted the coppery feel of the crimson liquid that had caked onto the plump surface.

Somehow, there was a tear in the front of her shirt, and she could see just the under wire of her bra. The tips of her shoes were caked with blood as well.

Rukia reached her hand to her face tenderly, and stroked the area were the cut had been. It was deep, but Hinamori had healed it as if it had been something as trivial as a paper cut. "I really got it handed to me, ne, Matsumoto?"

The shinigami's bluish-gray eyes softened. She could detect the sense of guilt she had in her voice. "It wasn't your fault, Rukia-chan."

Rukia looked back, doubt in her eyes, "If you say so." She clearly was too tired to argue, but she was still carrying that guilt with her, and that was never a good thing.

So Matsumoto cut in again, "Nothing's your fault; you have a gift. That's not your fault. Hollows want it. Not your fault. Yeah, you got attacked by a hollow today, but no one else was hurt other than you, Rukia-chan. It wasn't your fault. Just a freak moment when we were caught off guard. Understand?"

The Kuchiki girl gulped, and her eyes started to water, but she fought off the tears that threatened to come, "Yeah…yeah." Matsumoto's words made her feel better, so she smiled, despite her weakness, "Thanks, Matsumoto."

Matsumoto reached over and lightly ran a hand through her blood-caked hair, "Now, need any help bathing?" She joked, her eyes glinting.

"No, I think I'm good." Rukia laughed. "Now, wait outside the door to ward off perverts."

"My job in life." Matsumoto said, grinning in a catlike manner before leaving the bathroom, cracking the door behind her.

Rukia laughed as the blonde took her place outside the door, leaning against the wall next to the crack in the door. Her laughter turned into a sigh as she slipped out of her clothes - what was left of them, at least. She turned and saw that the majority of her body was covered with crimson stains. The scarlet color contrasted sharply with the ivory of her skin. She sighed again uneasily, shakily, wondering if she could possibly get the dry, caked substance off of her form.

She walked over to the tub, and started the water running, not even bothering to let it get moderately deep before she stepped in the steaming liquid. The blood on her ankle slightly dissipated from the space it occupied and stained the water around it a red in color. Not all of it was cleaned from her skin, however. Rukia knew she'd have to scrub to get all of it off…

She sat down in the tub; the water was now deep enough to slosh around her waist. It kept pouring in around her, touching every part of her body. When it was up to her chest, she turned the water off and leaned back so she was completely submerged except for her head. "Mm…" She groaned as the hot water covered her.

"You alright in there?" Matsumoto called from out the door.

"Yes." Rukia said, sitting up again, "Don't expect this to be a quick bath. I plan on taking one of those girly, indulgent baths." She chuckled.

Matsumoto laughed along with her, "No problem there, Rukia-chan."

Rukia laughed, but after a few seconds, it turned into a weak, mirthless sound that even the raven haired girl could determine as fake. Her eyes lost their shine and she glanced down at her hands submerged beneath the water, and the caked blood stained on them. "My dream…" She started, trailing off like an uncertain child.

"Ne?" Matsumoto asked, quirking a brow. "The dream you just had? The one that scared you?"

Blinking somberly, Rukia kept her eyes downcast, "Yeah…I didn't want to tell them down there because…well, they'll probably see me as weak, but you…Matsumoto, can I tell you in secrecy? I trust you and you…"

"Of course." Matsumoto said, looking toward the crack in the door as if that were Rukia's own face. "I'll keep it to myself, though I doubt anyone would take you being scared as weak, Rukia-chan. Everyone gets scared. Some people just handle it differently. Today, that whole room was scared. For you."

Rukia felt her cheeks turn pink, "Ah…" A sheepish laugh escaped her lips, "I am glad…that people care."

"Of course we do." The blonde shinigami reassured fiercely, "No need to ever doubt that."

The Kuchiki girl reached off of the side of the tub and got a wash cloth. She dipped it into the water before bringing it up again and squeezing it. "Well," She gazed at the orange cloth in her hands and said, "I was being chased…"

Matsumoto sat, waiting for her words to flow, outside the door, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration, with her legs spread out in front of her casually. Her palms were pressed lightly against the floor, arms stick straight as she leaned her head back against the wall. She had long since changed back into her gigai, as well. She murmured, "Mm-hm," as if encouraging her to go on.

"…it was a hollow. A hollow was chasing me." Rukia said as she once again dipped the cloth under the water. This time, she put soap onto it while it was still wet and rubbed it to get the foam going. "I was running, and it was pitch dark. I couldn't see a thing."

At this point, she had begun washing herself. She started with her cheeks and neck, scrubbing the caked blood from her skin, wiping away crimson to reveal beautiful, unmarred skin.

"The _thing _got a hold of me. It grabbed my hair and yanked and told me he wanted my soul. I protested and flailed about and I ended up hitting the hollow with my hand, but it must've been a sharp edge of the bone of the thing, because it cut into my hand and it felt so…_terrible_."

Matsumoto began to feel sympathy for the girl unlike anything she had felt for anyone in a long time. She put her left hand against her chest and closed her eyes in thought for the girl. The picture she was painting of her dream was all-too vivid and it made the fukutaichou sad for her.

"He told me not to fight, that it would make it worse for me. He _breathed _on me…" Rukia said in disgust as she moved to dunk her head under the water, "He breathed on me and then…" Her head was partly submerged in the water, raven locks floating about her features. She rose from the water and the droplets rolled from her form.

Running a hand through the soaked locks, she sighed, "There was a bright light. I could suddenly see everything." Her voice cracked on the last word, as if this was the part of the dream that truly scared her. Her eyes were wavering with emotion and she shook her head slightly. "There was you, Matsumoto. You were…dead. And bloody."

Matsumoto hid a gasp.

"Ishida…Ishida was also dead. It was horrible…he was…it was…" Rukia trailed off, and the strawberry blonde could hear her start to cry somewhat. "He was so…mangled."

"Then…" Rukia had to collect herself, "…there was Hitsugaya…" Her voice cracked again on his name, "He was the worst one…I could only recognize him by his hair…and even that was almost completely red with…"

The door swung open.

Rukia looked up at Matsumoto, her eyes filled with tears that glinted in the dull light of the bathroom, "M-Matsumoto, what are you - "

She was next to the tub in one second and Rukia was in her arms in the next. The blonde didn't seem to care about modesty, and that made Rukia smile in spite of her tears. That still didn't keep the scarlet blush from coating her cheeks. Matsumoto held her tightly, as if comforting someone who had been through a horrible ordeal, not someone who had a bad dream…but, once she thought about it, she had been attacked by a hollow today. Maybe Matsumoto thought she was cracking.

That turned out to not be the case.

"It'll be okay, Rukia-chan." Matsumoto started, pressing her cheek against her wet, still somewhat bloodied, hair, "Everyone has dreams like that sometimes…losing the ones you love. But you don't have anything to worry about."

Rukia felt her body relax at that, and the next statement by the fukutaichou.

"None of us will die."

And, though Matsumoto knew that was a ridiculous statement, she believed it, and wanted to say it for Rukia's sake. She felt that the raven haired girl was becoming like a sister to her and she wanted to comfort her as much as she could. She parted from the smaller girl and smiled.

"Now, let me wash your back. I doubt you can get to it."

"Hey!"

Matsumoto took the wash cloth from the side of the tub where Rukia had left it as she had leaned back into the water and grinned.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"I'm not so sure about that."

The sound of Matsumoto's laughter resounded through the entire house, and then Rukia's joined it.

* * *

After washing herself and feeling cleaner - both physically and mentally - than she had in a while, Rukia walked downstairs with one thought on her mind. It might not be something they were ready to face yet, but Rukia would spring it on them. And, as Ishida knew, Rukia was terrible to refuse when she was determined.

And right now, she was _determined_.

Matsumoto offered to help her down the stairs, but she refused. The sudden adrenaline that coursed through her after her realization just a few minutes ago made her step forward without even tumbling once. She was sure to feel the after effects of this later, she was sure of that.

Her feet led her down the stairs with a confident air. She needed all the confidence she had in her for it to work. For them to actually consider…

Rukia shook her head, feeling confident. The talk with Matsumoto had made her feel better and gave her a brilliant idea.

"_None of us will die."_

That's what Matsumoto had said to her in the bathroom, while she embraced her.

And, Rukia's thought while she said it?

_No one will die. I will make sure of it._

So here Rukia was, walking as if she hadn't had a brush of death just mere hours ago. She finally was on the first floor, and walked into the living room, where the group of shinigami and one Quincy sat around on the floor, watching some program on the television.

Hearing her approach, Ishida immediately looked up, "Rukia." He gave her a genuine smile and Rukia returned with a smirk. He looked at her quizzically, quirking a delicate brow at the Kuchiki girl.

Rukia turned the corner around the couch and walked over to Hitsugaya, standing in front of him with a determined look in her jewel-like orbs. The white haired shinigami looked at her with a confused stare, wondering what was going on.

"Kuchiki, you really should be in bed - "

Rukia shook her head, cutting him off. "No…not yet."

Renji and Ichigo exchanged glances, while Hinamori looked at Matsumoto with alarm deep in her brown eyes. _No one should be up and moving when they've lost that much blood. _The bun haired girl thought in awe and concern. She knew this wouldn't end well.

"Rukia…" Ishida started to plead, "Please, go rest before you decide to have a confrontation."

Rukia shook her head again, and in a way, she looked slightly crazed with this idea, but in a happy, excited way, though none of it escaped her eyes or mouth. Her face was ashen pale and anyone could see that the girl was exhausted. Her hair had its normal sheen to it, though, and it shone in the light of the living room.

"Hitsugaya…"

"Yes?" Even the ice shinigami was surprised she hadn't fallen out right there in the middle of the floor.

"I want you to start my training. As soon as possible."

Hitsugaya looked at her with wide eyes. He hadn't been planning on training her until at least a couple of months passed. Why now? Why would she…

"I want to be strong, Hitsugaya. I want to help…without being a burden to anyone. Please, Hitsugaya. Train me! _I want to be strong!_"

Everyone stared at the conviction in the girl's words, impressed by her drive and strength of will.

But, before Hitsugaya could answer her, Rukia swayed, her eyes clouded over and became blank before closing in unconsciousness.

Hitsugaya caught her before she hit the ground.

"Is she okay?" Ishida said, his navy eyes filled with worry.

"Yes," Hinamori piped up, "She's just pushed herself too far…the lack of blood in her system made her weak, caused her to faint."

Ishida looked relieved at that. _Good. Maybe she can get some rest now without us forcing her to._

Hitsugaya wasn't paying attention to the commotion around him. His turquoise eyes gazed down at the Kuchiki girl with a kindness and somewhat admiration. _This girl came down here…despite lack of blood…just to tell me this. Just to ask me to train her. She forwent sleep just to say that she wanted me to train her._

Rukia groaned slightly in her sleep, and he noted how pleasant the contrast between her dark hair and pale skin was. Her plump, pink lips were parted, steadily taking in air. A feeling of innocence wafted from her body, and Hitsugaya didn't notice that his grip tightened in a mixture of protectiveness and the fact that he was _proud _of this human girl.

_She'll make a fine warrior._

With that, the icy taichou scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her room.

* * *

_**End Chapter Eight.**_

_I'm finally done with chapter eight! I'm so happy. I never thought I'd get done with this. It seemed to take forever to get into it and write, but I have to admit, typing on a laptop is just more fun and it made this more fun to write. (Lousy excuse, I know, lol.) But yeah, this chapter was longer than most in this fic, and hopefully you enjoyed it. Hopefully you weren't bored to tears. Haha. Congrats to my Lakers, who won the championship game! So very happy! _

_Well, anyway, this was basically to set up events to come. I hope you liked it! Please review with your thoughts and opinions! _

_Arigato!_


	9. Of Kendo Swords and Kido Spells

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach!_

_Thanks to everyone for your kind reviews! I really appreciate all of them, and they mean so incredibly much to me! It's really awesome that everybody likes this story and the direction that it's going. I'm really excited for it, too, since…well, some action is about to start! Well, training action, that is. Lol._

_Anyway, here's chapter nine! Enjoy!_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Nine: Of Kendo Swords and Kido Spells**

* * *

Kind, yet icy eyes looked upon her sleeping features.

The sun beamed through the curtains in her room, casting an ethereal glow to the raven haired girl's features. Her skin was the creamiest color of white, and that was only accented by the light of the sun. The rays also made the black of her hair slightly gleam with blue tints in the light. She lay on her back, one arm over her flat stomach, the other curled by her face, fingers limp and motionless. Her pale pink lips were parted, taking in the air ever-so slowly.

Hitsugaya watched her with an admiration. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a sudden surge of awe, of appreciation for this girl. Maybe it was because she was human, and she was so determined to be strong, to deny her human weakness so she could protect everyone she cared about.

He wasn't sure, but he just knew that he had become captivated by Kuchiki Rukia, no matter how weak, how strong, how fragile, or how tough she was.

It was pathetic, he knew, but it also seemed right to him. Being with her like this, even when she recovered from her fainting spell just yesterday after being attacked by a hollow. It all seemed like it was what was supposed to happen. What was meant to happen.

He shook his head, the locks of snowy white hair fluttering around his face softly, like the faint touch of a butterfly's wings. He was being foolish, and he knew it. It was stupid of him to romanticize his situation like that, but he couldn't help but feel a particular draw to this girl, something he couldn't put his finger on, something that stood out despite everything else that threatened to take her away from him.

_No, don't think like that. She's not yours. Don't get cocky. Better yet, don't think like that at all. _

He leaned back in his seat, which was a wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room. The slight squeak that his rocking made was the only sound in the room other than the light breathing coming from the Kuchiki woman. It was peaceful, sitting here like this, watching over her, though he knew he was bound to get ragged on it later by Matsumoto if she found out - and she _would _find out, that much was certain. The peculiar strawberry blonde had a way of finding things out. He still didn't know how, even after all these years with her as his fukutaichou.

The white haired taichou placed a hand underneath his chin as he leaned forward, his keen eyesight focusing on the rise and fall of her chest, indicating that she was still breathing. That was a priority for him after all that had happened to her in the span of nearly two days.

"You really should give her room to breathe."

Hitsugaya didn't start, for he felt her presence before she spoke. She had been looking at him for a while, only not saying anything, "Hinamori, I'm just monitoring her condition."

"Yes, but at least eat something." The bun haired girl motioned to the plate of food that was left untouched by the small table beside his rocking chair.

"Not hungry."

"_Shiro-chan_."

"Hitsugaya-_taichou_." He corrected crossly, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Whatever," The spirited young girl rolled her large brown eyes and sat down on the hardwood floor of Rukia's small bedroom. "What brings you here anyway? You haven't left since you brought her here."

Hitsugaya was silent, unmoving, unthinking, unfeeling. He just wanted Hinamori to _go away_.

"I mean, I'm just curious, and besides - "

"I don't know why I'm here." Hitsugaya said, his voice clipped and controlled, "I mean, why do you go to Aizen-taichou's side every time _he's _injured? People have their reasons, different as they may be, for doing things. It's not like I ask you things like that. I have my reasons, and you have yours."

Hinamori winced at his subtle accusation, and the pain was obvious in her doe eyes. The white haired man didn't find himself hard-pressed to care, and that saddened him somewhat. The two had once been great friends. He had even harbored an unrequited childish crush on her, the lingering feelings of which he still felt sometimes. She had totally ignored it, of course, favoring to pursue other things that would please _her Aizen-taichou_. He wondered why exactly he was thinking about this now, but he didn't think much of it. His icy turquoise orbs focused on the slumbering beauty in the bed across from him and he could only think of _Rukia_.

She turned in her slumber, sighing lightly. It was an innocently beautiful sound, one that made Hitsugaya think of simpler times, when he wasn't a hardened shinigami captain.

"She'll wake up soon." Hinamori ventured, and the white haired shinigami could here the subtle ache in her voice due to his harshness with her. "Don't worry."

Hitsugaya scoffed, "I know." He replied, "She's strong, even for a human."

The bun haired girl looked over at his hard features and saw something she hadn't seen in her _Shiro-chan _for quite some time - compassion. Compassion for this young girl who was so obviously _human. _Hinamori felt a tinge of jealousy well within her, but she ignored it, not knowing what it stemmed from.

Rukia stirred from her sleep ever-so slightly. Pale lids fluttered open, revealing her large violet orbs, jewel like in tone. She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes, trying to free them from sleep. She gave a slight moan as she then reached up to stretch her slender limbs over her head as she yawned.

"Rukia!" Hinamori chirped, ignoring the faint feeling of jealousy from before.

The Kuchiki's eyes locked on the petite girl sitting on her floor and she straightened up like a rail. Her eyes were wild with confusion. _What is she doing in my room? _

"Good afternoon," Hitsugaya ventured, his voice soft, as to not disturb her.

Rukia's body got even more rigid, if that were possible, as she looked to the direction the smooth voice had come from, "Ne?"

"It's the afternoon." Hitsugaya said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Rukia met him with a confused gaze, like she had no idea what he was talking about, "You fainted. You've been out for about two days." He said in a voice that tried to jog her memory.

"Two days!" Rukia exclaimed, shooting out of bed, but then temporarily losing her balance because she had been immobile for so long. The white haired captain shot out of the rocking chair and grasped the petite girl before she fell. Her large eyes looked up at him with curiosity.

"You got up too fast," Hitsugaya explained, sitting up upright. The sight of her was almost comical - her raven hair was messy, sticking out in every direction possible, and her eyes were wild, wondering and shocked. She looked at him with a surprised gaze, and then sighed running a hand through the mop of her hair.

"I figured…" Rukia said, groaning as her fingers got stuck in a particularly nasty clump of tangled hair.

Hitsugaya smiled - it was nice to hear her voice after so long, though he wondered why he missed it so much.

She freed her hand from the confines of her thick hair and walked to the bathroom, glancing over her shoulder at the two shinigami standing in her room with a look that said, _What the hell are you still doing in here?_

"What the hell are you still doing in here?" She said, voicing her thoughts.

Hitsugaya looked at Hinamori and vice versa.

"Uh," Hinamori blinked innocently, her large brown eyes betraying nothing, "What?"

"I feel nasty. I've been sleeping for two days, apparently, and I'd really like to take a bath." Rukia said bluntly, looking from the short shinigami to the petite brunette.

"Ah," Hitsugaya said, making his way to the door. Hinamori left before him, making her way down the hall. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, paused with his slender fingers wrapped around the doorknob, "We start training today."

"Ne - _Ne?_" Rukia's eyes widened as she poked her head out of the bathroom. "What?"

"Well, you wanted to get started as soon as possible. You said so yourself." Hitsugaya said simply, his face deadpanned. "So, I'd tell you to wear something comfortable, and meet me in the backyard after you get some food in your system."

Rukia blinked, "Um…alright."

Hitsugaya nodded curtly, and then he was gone.

Rukia walked into the bathroom. She remembered the last time she was in here - with Matsumoto as she washed her back. The raven haired girl felt an odd sense of longing, and realized that she missed the strawberry blonde's company.

She felt the muscles in her body stretch and conform themselves to movement. It was strange, being mobile after two days in bed. She didn't know she could actually sleep that much. Rukia realized it must've been attributed to her blood loss and that she needed the rest. She realized with a jolt as she started running the bathwater that she had also missed two days of school! What day was it? She rushed into her room to glance frantically at her calendar.

_Saturday… _Rukia thought with a smidge of relief. At least she wouldn't have three days worth of schoolwork to make up. Groaning, she made her way back to the bathroom. She stripped and submerged herself in the hot water, relaxing as it loosened up her tense and tightly wound joints and muscles.

As she scrubbed her scalp, she idly wondered why Hitsugaya had been watching her. Had he been there the whole time, just watching her? She felt heat pool in her stomach as she thought about that. As strange as it was, she found it flattering if he had indeed done that. It made her heart start to speed in her chest and the blood race to her cheeks.

She ducked under the water, ridding the shampoo from her scalp as well as trying to rinse the thoughts about the stoic captain from her mind. It was ridiculous to think of him in that way, to even consider that he cared for her as more than a friend.

She got through the rest of her bath quickly. Rukia rose from the water, pulled the tab to let it drain. She grabbed one of the clean towels from the towel rack and dried her slim frame off with it. Inhaling deeply, she started to towel dry her hair, not feeling like taking the time to blow dry it.

After that was done, her slightly damp hair clung to her cheeks and neck. She wrapped the fluffy white towel around herself and walked into her room.

Only to be met with the concerned gaze of Ishida.

"I-Ishida! What the _hell_?!" Rukia exclaimed, pulling her towel closer to her breasts, trying to keep as much between his eyes and her naked body as possible.

"I-I was just…ch-checking on you, Ru-kia…" The bespectacled boy stuttered, his face turning tomato red. He couldn't tear his eyes from her body, wrapped so tightly in the white terry cloth of the towel, her hair still damp from her bath, her skin slightly flushed from a mixture of the hot water and the fact that Ishida was in her room while she was naked.

She was _beautiful_.

"Okay, you see me," Rukia said snappily, her embarrassment fueling her temper, "So could you please let me get dressed?!"

Ishida blushed an even deeper red, if that was possible, and ducked out the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He felt his face, surprised that when confronted with a sight like that, that he wasn't bleeding profusely from his nose. He was glad he wasn't, though. That was the last thing he needed at a time like this. He leaned his wiry, muscular back against the wood of her door and sighed, trying to rid her from his thoughts.

"Hitsugaya tells me you're training today," Ishida ventured, his voice still slightly shaky from the sight of Rukia in nothing but a towel playing over and over in his thoughts.

Rukia paused slightly, clutching the cloth of the towel closer to her body, as she opened her dresser drawer. She rifled through her underwear, finding a pair and then turned, finding a pair of shorts and a red tank top to wear. She slipped on a sports bra that went beneath her shirt and then moved to put the shirt on, all the while answering, "Yeah, that's what he said."

She heard Ishida sigh from the other side of the door, "That's good. Just…don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked, quirking a delicately sculpted brow as she shimmied into her shorts.

"Well, I know how you are," Ishida began after taking a deep breath, "You're determined to help us, to keep us out of danger. That was the look in your eyes as you came down the stair the other day, but we can all take care of ourselves, Rukia. We appreciate your gesture, but…just realize your limitations."

The door jerked open, making Ishida tumble down to the ground, landing squarely on the floor in front of Rukia, his head in between her ankles. The raven haired girl jumped back, thankful she hadn't been wearing a skirt. "Ishida!" She shouted, kneeling down beside him, "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Ishida pushed himself up onto his elbows and cocked his head to face Rukia, "I'm good. Quincy, remember? Takes a lot more than that to hurt me."

Rukia laughed ruefully. _Everything's changed so much… _She thought, smiling slightly bitterly, somewhat wishing that everything could be normal, everything could be _right_ again.

But she knew that was asking too much.

She helped Ishida up, reassuring him that she wouldn't push herself too hard, and they made their way down to the first floor, walking to the kitchen where Ishida kindly made the Kuchiki girl a ham and cheese sandwich. She ate gratefully, savoring every bite, while she watched Ishida's strong arms move around, flexing, as he fixed his own sandwich.

He sat down in front of her at the table and chomped into his own sandwich, his navy eyes bright and thoughtful as he looked past her at the window behind her. Rukia blinked a few times before she turned to see what he was looking at.

Hitsugaya stood, in his human form - _gigai_, she had heard them refer to it as - with a wooden kendo sword in his grasp. His icy eyes were confident, staring holes into his opponent. Renji stood across from him, also in his gigai, and also with a wooden kendo sword gripped between his fingers.

They were still for a moment, and then, Renji struck. His tall body charged forward, chocolate eyes determined, and he swung his sword at Hitsugaya, who dodged the slashing motion that was directed at his gut, and did a flip in mid-air. Renji glanced upward at the twirling captain and jumped up as well. He tried to strike again, but this time, Hitsugaya was too quick, he blocked his sword with his own and they were locked in a confrontation. The swords were still crossed, even as they plummeted downward, landing on the ground with a _thud_.

Seeing this, Rukia felt awe for the spectacle. She rose from her chair, sliding it back quickly, leaving her half-eaten sandwich behind. Ishida rose as well, looking at her concernedly. That look in her eyes was never good. That determined, excited look never bode well…

She slid open the sliding glass door that led out to the backyard. As soon as she did so, the fighting stopped and everyone glanced at her with a curious gaze. Though the action stopped, Renji and Hitsugaya still had their swords interlocked.

"I'm ready!" Rukia exclaimed, her violet eyes wide and glistening with enthusiasm.

Hitsugaya looked at her, icy eyes betraying no emotion as he tossed her his kendo sword, handle first. Her eyes widened, not expecting that, and she scrambled to catch it and not look like a fool.

It slipped through her hands several times before she got a grip on it. She heard Ichigo and Renji's chuckling, as well as Matsumoto's. She found the handle and gripped it in her right hand as she stepped forward into the sunlight.

She heard Ishida's delicate footfalls behind her, and she looked behind herself to see that the Quincy was following her. Strange, didn't he hate Soul Reapers? Yet here he was, walking out into the fray with several extremely well-trained shinigami. She idly wondered why he would do that, but she didn't spend too much time on it. Her mind was focused on training right now.

Matsumoto smiled when she saw the raven haired girl approach, "Ah, sleepy head's up!"

Rukia grinned in her direction.

Hitsugaya looked back and forth between his overtly affectionate fukutaichou and his new "apprentice" of sorts, silencing them with a glare of his turquoise eyes. "Play catch up later, train now." He said in a rough voice, "It's what Rukia wants, right?"

Rukia straightened to attention, as if Hitsugaya was some kind of drill sergeant. She nodded her head several times in succession and she walked forward, not noticing the tip of her sword dragging the ground behind her.

Hitsugaya was up to her in a flash, his tanned skin gleaming attractively in the sunlight. Rukia felt the heat rise to her cheeks as he looked her over, his eyes lingering over her form before dropping to the sword dragging the dirt. He looked up at her, critical, and took her slender hand in his own, righting the sword from its place on the ground.

"_Never _let your sword drag on the ground." Hitsugaya said strictly, his eyes intense.

"O-Okay, I didn't notice."

Hitsugaya's eyes softened as he looked at the girl, clearly embarrassed for what she had done. "No problem. It's your first time." He smiled at her gently, and she looked at him, her embarrassed blush turning into a flustered one at the dizzying quality of his smile. Her hand felt warm and inviting within his own, the weight of her slender fingers felt comforting, _natural_ in his palm.

Rukia nodded slightly, looking at Hitsugaya with a curious gaze as his free hand took her left hand in his and put it on the hilt of the sword, right beneath the curled fist of her other hand.

"There." He said, satisfied, "Hold it like that."

Rukia nodded, her violet eyes wide like saucers, waiting for his next instruction. She could feel all eyes on her and the white haired taichou. The very feeling was enough to make her blush more than she already was.

Hitsugaya appraised her position, and looked at her feet, which were side by side. He slid his foot between hers, and moved it from side to side, making her feet move apart and giving her a wide base. "Always have a wide stance. It's more relaxed and easier to move in to attack."

Rukia nodded, listening intently to his instructions.

After a few more minute instructions, he stepped away, looking at her with approval, and then moved to Renji, motioning forward nonchalantly, "Attack her."

"Wh-_What_?" Renji stuttered, looking frantically from Hitsugaya to the petite raven haired girl with the huge violet eyes, who looked so out of place with that huge kendo sword in her arms.

"You heard me, _Abarai_." He growled his last name, "Attack her. And don't go easy on her."

"But…Hitsugaya-taichou, I was under the impression that _you _were going to spar with her!"

Rukia looked to Hitsugaya, her heart stuttering sporadically in her chest, "Yeah, me too, actually!"

Hitsugaya looked at her curiously. The way her lips were set, the way her purple eyes were wide with hope, he could've thought that she actually was _looking forward _to _Hitsugaya _being the one to attack her.

"Renji first." Hitsugaya said, though the look in Rukia's eyes made him actually want to take it back.

Renji growled in his chest and stepped forward. He didn't look too comfortable with the idea of attacking Rukia. "Sorry in advance." Renji muttered under his breath.

Rukia didn't even have time to consider his words, for the next minute, he was flashing up to her, his long legs propelling him forward. He slashed the wooden sword at her and she shrieked, not knowing what to expect.

Deftly, surprisingly, she jumped back, avoiding a pegging assault to her stomach. Renji didn't stop, however, he kept going, darting at her like some kind of predatory animal. Rukia jumped out of the way, landing a few feet to the left of Renji, dodging yet another attack.

"You can't just _run _from a hollow, Kuchiki." Hitsugaya said coldly, looking at her technique of darting across the spacious backyard like she was the gazelle and Renji was the lion about to go for the jugular.

She was distracted, her eyes moving to Hitsugaya for a moment. In that split second, Renji struck, the wooden weapon slicing through the air and connecting roughly with her side, sending her sprawling across the grass, skidding away from the shinigami and Ishida. She let a small yelp escape her lips in the pain that radiated from her ribs all the way to her waist from the blow.

"Rukia!" Ishida called out, starting to run to her. A slim hand stopped him.

"No," Matsumoto said calmly, "Let her get through this. This is the _easy _part of the training, believe it or not. It will only get worse for her if you help her now."

Ishida blinked, wondering how the strawberry blonde had gotten from her space beneath a tree to in front of him in the doorframe in such a short amount of time. He looked into her ash grey eyes with wonder before she grinned impishly, grasping the wiry muscle of his arm and dragging him over to where she, Hinamori, and Ichigo sat beneath a large cherry blossom tree. She plopped back down, and brought the thin Quincy down with her.

"Just watch." Matsumoto said kindly, "I'm sure she's glad to have your support in this."

Ishida inhaled sharply, taken aback by the beauty of her gaze, and then he moved his navy blue eyes back out to the battle.

Rukia had gotten up from her felled position on the grass, gripping her side in pain, one of her eyes clenched together in her discomfort. "O…kay…" Rukia murmured, panting. She was already starting to get a bit tired, but Renji, though he was sparring with Hitsugaya just moments before, looked like he could go on for hours on end.

Her eyes narrowed in determination, her fire rekindled after her momentary lapse of uncertainty. She got into the position Hitsugaya had her in before in little to no time, perfectly. Edging one foot forward, she glanced at the red haired shinigami, who was looking apologetic and sheepish at what he had just done.

Biting her bottom lip, she shot forward, like an arrow from a bow.

Being human, she couldn't jump as high as the shinigami, even in their gigai they were stronger than the average human, but she tried her best, jumping in the air as high as she could, then coming down with a powerful swing of the wooden sword.

Renji blocked expertly, as he had done for centuries. His chocolate eyes met her violet ones with approval, "Nice." He muttered as her feet touched the ground.

But, apparently, it wasn't "nice" enough, for in the next split second, Renji had tossed her to the side like a rag doll. She skidded on her feet this time, across the lawn and to the tall wooden fence that made its way around her backyard. Her eyes narrowed at him again, wondering what she was doing wrong.

Of course, it could be the fact that she had never before fought a day in her life, but still, she guessed that because of her huge amount of spiritual energy it would come naturally to her, like most things supernatural did, but then again, maybe she was just getting her hopes up, wanting to get strong fast, when in fact it took years to muster up the power that resided within shinigami like Renji and Hitsugaya.

The pain in her ribs didn't subside, though Rukia pushed it to the back of her mind, feeling her anger at herself bubble and boil through her veins.

Again, she charged at Renji.

Her feet seemed heavy and sluggish beneath her, but she wondered why. Most likely because she was so…_human_. Out of all the people here, she was the most human, the most _vulnerable _to attack, and it killed her that that was the case. She wanted to be strong, powerful, skilled. Like Renji was being right now.

_Like Hitsugaya. _She thought as she raced forward.

"Ha!" She let a cry escape her lips as she bore down on Renji's sword with her own. The red head looked at her with an amused glance and didn't move. Not one _centimeter_ did he move from where he stood.

She growled, grinding her teeth together in frustration as she pushed down.

Renji, this time, moved forward, his strong legs overpowering her own, forcing her back. Her eyes were wide as his face came closer to her, pushing her back toward the fence with a speed she never knew he possessed.

She gasped in shock when her back hit the wood of the fence with a force she was not expecting. It knocked the breath out of her, and caused tears to burst into her eyes. She started gasping slightly, and her chest was pressed against Renji's, making it hard for her to breathe. She had lost the grip on her sword, and it was now useless beside her head, the tip pressed against the wood of the fence. Renji's own sword was sideways against her slender neck.

Renji smirked slightly at her, and murmured, "You didn't do _that bad_, so get that look off your face, Ruk."

He grinned at her, letting her free. The sword slipped from her sweaty hands to the soft grass by her feet. A blush was coating her cheeks now, face burning with embarrassment, as she stooped over to pick up the seemingly useless object. It felt strange in her hands now, heavy, like it was resisting her using it. Her hands were already blistered from their brief sparring match. She groaned as the pain in her back started flaring up.

"Good, good," Hitsugaya said, as if he were a coach of some sort. In a way, she guessed he was a coach. Her own personal coach. She fought a blush at that image.

"Good?" Rukia said, her eyes skeptical, "I got my ass handed to me."

"You _did_."

"Shut up, Ichigo." Hitsugaya called in an exasperated tone, as if that were the hundredth time he had said those words. Rukia was sure it was more than that.

"For your first time, it was surprising how graceful you moved," Hitsugaya said, his turquoise eyes betraying nothing, "I was impressed with that."

Rukia gulped and tried to fight the burning from her cheeks.

"You just need to learn the basics. That sparring session was to see what we needed to work on, and what we needed to do…" Hitsugaya explained, looking to Renji, "Thanks."

"No prob." Renji looked shaken at the unexpected courtesy from the icy captain.

"Physical combat is not the only thing we can work on," Hitsugaya continued, looking from Rukia to Renji, then his eyes darted to the tree where the three other shinigami and Ishida sat beneath. "Hinamori?" He called with deliberate softness, "Would you come here?"

Hinamori flitted gracefully across the lawn to stand beside Hitsugaya, her brown eyes wondering, "Yes?"

"Heal Rukia's wound with your kido." Hitsugaya said, looking at the petite girl.

Rukia quirked a brow and suddenly felt the burning scrapes down the backs of her forearms, where she had braced herself against the fence, and from where she had skidded along the grass. There was also a cut on the side of her calf, dripping blood at a steady pace. The pain in her back was almost unbearable now.

Hinamori walked gracefully over to her. If Rukia was graceful for her first time fighting, then Hinamori was even more graceful even thought she only walked forward.

"Hinamori, since she is the best in kido of the shinigami here, will be teaching you how to cast kido spells," Hitsugaya explained as Hinamori took both of Rukia's elbows in her hands and a bright energy started to emit from her own hands, soaking into the raven haired girl's injured skin. "Kido can be used for the healing purposes that Hinamori is using it for now, or for attacking, which is quite useful."

There was a tingling sensation that made its way across her skin, and then Hinamori moved down to cup Rukia's calf muscle, doing the same thing to the cut there. Again, the tingling appeared, but this time it was one her leg.

"Lift up your shirt," Hinamori said politely as she twirled Rukia around.

Rukia lifted up her shirt, revealing a flat stomach and smooth back, except for the scratch marks and the large purpling area where Renji smashed his kendo sword against her side.

Hitsugaya felt his eyes move over Rukia's skin, appraising her form with his eyes, secretly, not wanting anyone else to know what he was doing. He felt his heart start to beat faster as he looked upward and saw the faint lining of her bra. Gulping slightly, he inhaled, trying to not make it sound shaky.

Seconds later, Rukia was healed and looking down at the bun haired girl's work on her wounds. Nothing was left other than smooth, unmarred flesh. Rukia felt excited at this. Now, if she could master both sword fighting _and _this kido magic, then she could both protect the ones she cared about as well as _heal _them from the injuries they sustained.

Her heart started going a mile a minute at just even imagining it.

She bent over and picked up the discarded kendo sword.

She grinned ferociously, determination rekindled.

"Alright, let's continue!"

* * *

_**End Chapter Nine. **_

_Okay! There's chapter nine. Sorry if it ended abruptly, but there will be the continuation of training in many chapters to come! And I plan on updating as soon as I can. I start college in about two weeks, so yeah. __**Maybe **__I'll be able to squeeze in an update before then, but I'm not making any promises. _

_I've really suddenly gotten inspired by this fic, after reading all the amazing HitsuRuki fics out there…it's just awesome at how many awesome ones there are out there! _

_Anyway, thanks so much for all the support! I appreciate it! Now, please review with your opinions! I would really love that!_

_Arigato!_


	10. Remembering Byakuya

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach._

_Okay, please, PLEASE don't kill me. I know it's been far too long since I've updated this fic, but yeah…I've had other things going on. I've just really had no muse for Bleach lately, but now I do! __**Truckloads **__of Bleach inspiration! And I plan on updating this fic somewhat regularly. If college doesn't get in the away again. I just finished up the Naruto fic that had become like a freakin' monster to finish, because my Naruto muse has been lacking, but I finally posted the end of it. Something that I never thought would happen would be that I would get tired of the Naruto fandom, but I have. As a result of that, this is the chaptered fic I will be focusing on more. Or I will try my best to, I will give you that. I can't promise you I will update like crazy, but I will __**try**__. _

_So, here's chapter ten! (10 chapters already? WOW!)_

* * *

**Wheel of the World  
****Chapter Ten: Remembering Byakuya**

* * *

"Ah, damn it!"

Rukia cursed as the sword was yet again weaseled out of her grasp. Her hair was now down, out of the ponytail and spread across her features, matted to her neck and forehead with sweat. One of the straps of her tank top had been ripped, exposing the sports bra underneath, as well as the fabric that covered her left breast. Her shorts were dirty, grass stains adorned them as well as dirt.

Violet eyes were frustrated, and she groaned as she bent over to pick up the discarded kendo sword. She felt it in her fingers, which were calloused from training, and let out an exasperated sigh.

Renji was standing in front of her, his own wooden sword clasped expertly in his talented hands. His eyes appraised her figure and he felt his own hand moving to wipe away sweat from his brow. He didn't know how long they had been training, but he knew that it had been a damn long time. When they started, the sun was high in the sky, and now it was just melting into the horizon.

The red haired man turned to look at the icy captain, who was staring at the Kuchiki woman with a thoughtful expression, his turquoise eyes solemn and betraying no emotion. _As usual. _Renji thought with a roll of his chocolate eyes.

He didn't have enough time to stare at the captain, for Rukia then barked out, "Okay, let's go again!"

Renji glanced over to the sound of the voice, only to see that Rukia had adopted the fighting pose that Hitsugaya had perfected over the course of the time they had trained today. It had been shaky at first, but now she adapted to the position without any awkward movements, now she was fluid and graceful as she spread her feet apart and held the sword in front of her. She was panting, her chest heaving up and down, and her face was red from exertion.

"No, Kuchiki," came the strong, leveled reply.

The aforementioned raven haired girl looked up, her eyes not betraying the disappointment she felt, "_Ne_! I want to go again, Hitsugaya!"

Renji felt a chuckle escape his lips as he looked at his opponent. She looked the very picture of indignant child, her eyes wide and cheeks puffed, her eyebrows narrowed and her fists clenched even tighter on her sword.

"Not now." Hitsugaya replied, his eyes hard like jewels. "You've had enough, obviously."

"N-No, I haven't! I can take a lot more, trust me!"

Ishida stepped in this time, looking at Rukia with concerned, ocean blue eyes, "Listen to him, Ruk. He might be abrasive, but he knows what's best."

_Abrasive, huh? _Hitsugaya thought, a growl threatening to break from his chest. Instead of reprimanding the Quincy for his insolence, he said nothing, only waiting for the bespectacled man to talk some sense into her. If anyone in her life had any kind of pull over her decisions, it was Ishida, and though he didn't know why, he was going to let him talk her out of this.

After a few more words, Rukia had submitted, but hadn't relented her grasp on the sword in front of her. She only carried it inside with her as she walked back through the sliding glass doors that made their way in the kitchen.

"Any suggestions for dinner?" Ishida asked, his eyes trained on the stove.

"Depends." Ichigo stated, running a hand through his orange hair, "Are you gonna try to make us stay in the bathroom for hours on end after we eat?"

Hinamori looked disgusted at his comment, while Matsumoto laughed in good nature. Rukia let out a chuckle as Renji angled his kendo sword in the corner of the kitchen. Still, the Kuchiki kept her grip on hers, as if a hollow would burst through the ceiling at any moment.

She looked over at Ishida, who was busy arguing with Ichigo, and she felt a smile curve her lips.

It was strange, but all of this activity, where it seemed as a burden at first, was growing on her. It had been too long since she had heard other voices in this house - other than hers and Ishida's, that is - and it warmed her heart to see that there were so many people, all "enjoying" each other's company in her house.

Her eyes seemed to feel like there was pressure on them, like there were tears threatening to be released, but she ignored it. She couldn't let a feeling for camaraderie get her all teary eyed. Not when she had more pressing matters. She had to get stronger. There could be a hollow attack that threatened her life and the lives of the people she cared about, and she had to be ready. Even if she couldn't do much to help, she had to be ready, so she wouldn't be anyone's burden but her own.

She didn't even notice when Hitsugaya came up on her, his eyes staring slightly up at her from his position, "If you grip that sword any tighter, you'll take the handle right off."

Rukia blinked, out of her reverie, and looked at the handsome taichou in front of her, "Oh. Well, I…"

"You didn't want to let go of the sword, huh?" Hitsugaya stated, his eyes amused now, and an almost friendly smirk on his lips, "You felt like it gave you power, and you didn't want to let go of it right away."

The Kuchiki girl was stunned at the icy captain's thoughts.

He had hit the nail on the head.

How could he know the reason why she had held on to the sword for so long? Was she that predictable? How could he know _her _so well when they hadn't even known _each other _for a long time? It was more than a bit baffling, but also a tad bit flattering on the other side. If he had known that much about her, just by judging her actions, he must have been watching her.

"Y-Yes…" She found herself stuttering, and immediately she felt like a fool for stumbling over her words in his presence. "I don't - how did you know that?"

"We're more similar than you think."

The words he said, the connotation that they may be similar, despite all of their differences, made a chill go down Rukia's spine. Not one of dread, but one of delight. He thought they were similar? She wondered that make her heart lurch and her stomach flutter, as if filled to bursting with butterflies.

Seeing that he had rendered her temporarily speechless, Hitsugaya smiled at her - actually _smiled _and not smirked as he usually did - and said, "Now go wash up. We're about to eat and you stink."

Her eyes narrowed at his jab, and she quirked a brow, "I only stink because I have been working my ass off. _You _stink for no apparent reason."

Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes widened before a smirk came across his lips. He looked as if he were about to retort, when Matsumoto cried out, "_Da-yum! _Hitsu-chan got _burned_!"

"Ne, that was good, Rukia!" Ichigo clapped a rough hand on her slim back and chuckled at the sight of her flinching as he hit a particularly rough injury. The raven haired girl could feel that she had a least a moderate sized bruise somewhere on her back, and that carrot top had managed to hit the exact spot where it was.

Renji chuckled as he looked at Ishida, "The girl's got bite."

The bespectacled man just sighed, his soft eyes staring at the Kuchiki girl with barely hidden adoration. "On occasion, I suppose." He said, his eyes never wavering from the short girl's form. He knew better than anyone else in the room how Rukia could be both prickly and kind at the same time.

Because, just then, as she said directed her jab at Hitsugaya, Ishida had seen something in her eyes that he immediately identified - he had been on the opposite end of that look many times before, which wasn't a bad thing.

The Quincy couldn't quite describe it, but it was something that he had seen glitter in Rukia's eyes. A certain…fondness for the icy shinigami that would've gone unnoticed by any one else. But to someone who knew her as well as he did, it may as well have been painted on her forehead.

She was warming up to him.

He bit the inside of his cheek as he watched her leave the room, taking careful strides, but he could see the bit of a limp she walked with. Obviously from some part of her training, but he couldn't remember what had caused it. He felt himself want to reach out to her, but he knew better. Ishida knew if he did that, he would be met with a determined stare and her telling him that she could "handle it herself."

Sighing to himself, he fought the urge to grab her arm as she wandered into the downstairs bathroom.

He then felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Hey, she'll be fine."

His eyes examined the hand and then followed the slender arm to the beautiful woman who had placed it there. Matsumoto's grey eyes looked at him with a caring nature that he had rarely seen from the busty shinigami. Immediately, he felt stupid. The strawberry blonde had seen his pathetic display of worrying, and he felt like an idiot for wearing his concern so blatantly on his features. "Yeah?"

"Ya know, you worry more than a mother." She said, her casual voice drawling.

Ishida scoffed, moving his glance to his feet, "I can't help it."

The others were talking to each other, not paying attention to the conversation going on between the Quincy and the shinigami, and somehow Ishida felt comforted by her presence near him, and he ended up saying more than he originally intended, "She's all I have left."

The slender hand on his shoulder gave a squeeze, "And you love her."

Navy blue eyes widened, but his shoulders slumped in quiet surrender. A bitter smile curled his lips.

"Yeah, that too."

* * *

Rukia was only in the bathroom for a few minutes before she came out, looking as refreshed as she could with just a couple moments to get clean. She sighed and walked into the kitchen, completely unconcerned with her state of dress. The torn clothes were a sign to her as something she should be proud of. She was fighting, she was learning, and the tattered clothing she wore signified that in some way. It could be considered strange to anyone else, but to her it made perfect sense.

She rounded the corner into the kitchen and saw that everyone was talking, some were fighting, others were just calmly sitting by themselves, but one figure was staring in disbelief at a picture that was sitting upright on the cabinet across from the kitchen table.

She quirked a brow as she made her way over to him, wondering what exactly could be so interesting with the picture he was staring at. It was one of her favorites. Her and her brother on the beach. She was building a sand castle and he was sitting watching, smiling down at her.

"Hey…" She ventured, looking at Hitsugaya with a curious expression. His back was turned to her so he obviously didn't acknowledge that.

He was silent for a while, just staring at the picture. Rukia wondered how long he had been looking at the photo. Obviously not long, since no one else had paid him any attention.

"Hitsugaya?"

The sound of his name seemed to be enough to bring him out of his shocked reverie. He turned, and now Rukia realized the extent of his shock. His turquoise eyes were wide like saucers, as if he had just experience an extreme shock. Even his slightly tanned skin had seemed to lose it's color.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked playfully, "I didn't know that I was that hideous in a bathing suit."

If this were any other situation, she supposed the icy captain would've blushed, but apparently this wasn't just another simple situation. This was something that had shocked him, and the raven haired girl could only wonder why.

The situation had now drawn the attention of the others, and they crowded around the two, looking at them as if they were foreign objects.

"Ne, taichou, why the strange look?" Matsumoto was in the same boat as Rukia, not understanding what the significance of the picture was.

After a while, the white haired youth finally spoke, "Who is this man in the picture?" He jabbed a finger in the direction of the aforementioned picture. There were many others around it. Some with her brother, others with just her and Ishida. There were plenty of pictures in her room, but he had obviously not paid them any attention while he was in there.

"My brother, Byakuya."

A heavy silence filled the room.

The brokenness of her voice was apparent even to her, and she wondered why it felt like she was in the middle of his funeral all over again.

"And he is deceased." Hitsugaya said, his eyes scanning her features.

Rukia felt her eyes narrow in the hurt that his tone caused, "Yeah. He is." She replied in a short tone, feeling a slight anger and pain bubble through her veins.

"When did he die?"

She bit her lip, clearly not comfortable with answering this line of questions.

"Hey! Can't you tell that she doesn't want to talk about it?" Ishida interrupted, his voice hard and unforgiving. "His death was just a year ago, and she's very sensitive to it."

_Thanks, Ishida. _She thought, eyes appraising his figure.

"Wait a sec…" Renji stepped forward, his eyes curious and wondering as he looked over the picture. "Holy _shit_! It's Kuchiki-taichou! In _swim trunks_!"

"Kuchiki-taichou?" A chorus of voices chimed together in wonderment.

Ichigo pushed his way through the throng of shinigami to see the picture. His chocolate eyes widened, "Damn! It _is _Kuchiki-taichou!"

Matsumoto was the next to see the photo, her eyes growing wide before a smirk curved her full mouth, "I always _knew _Kuchiki-taichou was hiding a great body underneath all those robes." She motioned over to Hinamori, "Come look! It's something any girl doesn't wanna miss!"

The bun haired girl stepped forward, a blush coating her cheeks as she looked at the photo, "Wow…"

Rukia's former feeling of sorrow was replaced with a curiosity that couldn't help but consume her. Kuchiki-_taichou_? As in _captain_? Like Hitsugaya-taichou? How could that be? What was going _on_?

Ishida leaned over and asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

"N-Not at all." Rukia admitted truthfully, her violet eyes shimmering with barely suppressed emotion in favor of her brother.

"That's where I heard the name Kuchiki from before…" Hitsugaya was mumbling, "I knew it sounded familiar. I just thought it was coincidence…"

Rukia swallowed before loudly asking, "Would anyone mind telling me _what's going on_?"

The frenzy stopped and all of the shinigami turned to look at the small woman. They seemed to be quite excited, which was strange since they had all gotten worked up over her dead brother's picture.

"Ne!" Matsumoto looked completely ecstatic to be to one to tell Rukia the news, but she was interrupted by her captain, who stepped forward, looking all business.

"Kuchiki Byakuya is the captain of Renji's squad." Hitsugaya explained, looking at her expression as it changed from confused and hurt to shocked.

"M-My _big brother_ is a…a _shinigami_?!"

"What the hell?" came Ishida's indignant reply.

"I should've expected…" Hitsugaya mused, looking at Rukia and seeing the vague similarities between their appearances. The dark ebony hair, the pale skin. Even the facial structure seemed to be the same. Or maybe he was looking to close into it. "The extreme amount of spiritual energy, the last name, the…resemblance."

"It's okay, taichou." Matsumoto smiled, "We all missed it too."

Hitsugaya turned his gaze to his fukutaichou and his eyes were hard. "That's not - "

"Does that mean…" Rukia interrupted him, "that my brother is…he could visit? Like all of you…he could come and…"

The unrestrained hope in her voice was heart wrenching. Hitsugaya looked at her and his eyes immediately softened at her expression. Her eyes were wide, searching for anything to have at least one more talk with her brother. She wrung her hands in front of her waist, fingers shaking in anticipation.

"He _could_, I suppose." Hitsugaya said, "If Yamamoto-soutaichou would give him the okay, then I guess he could."

"So he _could _come back." Rukia said, her mouth fighting to turn up in a smile.

"It depends on…" Hitsugaya found himself trailing off, looking at her features made him want to be able to promise her something this huge, but it would involve getting Yamamoto involved in granting permission. And since this wasn't for her protection, then he might not let it happen… "Yeah, he could."

"Hitsugaya." Hinamori said in a warning, her brown eyes fierce.

"I mean…" Rukia continued, having heard the young fukutaichou's reprimand. "That's selfish of me. I can't ask you to do that. It's…not what you are here for. You're here to train me and…not to let me see any…yeah."

"I'll do what I can."

"Hitsugaya!" Hinamori snapped, not expecting his sudden answer.

"Wh-what?" The Kuchiki's eyes were wide, out of shock instead of hope now.

"Yeah, _what_?" came Ishida's voice.

"I said I'll do what I can." Hitsugaya said simply, turning his back from the rest of them and walking into the living room as if to avoid the onslaught of strange looks from the shinigami around him.

"Hey." A rough voice rang through his ears, and he felt the back of his shirt being pulled by a strong hand. "What are you doing?"

"The question is, Quincy, what are _you _doing?" The icy taichou growled, his hand snatching Ishida's from his shirt before turning around to glare up at him.

"If you can't go through with it, if you can't bring her brother to see her, then don't lead her on. Don't _hurt _her like that, giving her false hope and - "

"I would never hurt her."

Ishida narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't admit that he was surprised at the fierceness of the captain's words. He was about to retort, but then Hitsugaya's eyes took on another look - this one of intensity and concentration as well as surprise.

"We have bigger problems." He said before jerking his head to his squad of shinigami. "Hollow!"

Matsumoto jerked to attention, grasping at her waist as if her zanpakutou was there. "Where, taichou?"

"It's just about to appear…right by Karakura School…"

"The school?" Rukia questioned. She had somehow gotten the wooden sword and her fingers were flexing around it.

"Oh, no." Hitsugaya said, taking the sword from her hands and moving it away from her grasping fingers. "_You're _not coming. You're no where near ready. And this wooden sword can do nothing against a hollow! You should know that."

"I should go! Even if I can't fight, I can still watch! You know, watch how everyone fights…learn how to maneuver…there are so many things I could learn, and…"

"What if the hollow got to you?" Hitsugaya interrupted her ranting with a stern gaze.

"There are five shinigami and one Quincy. I think you can handle it."

Hitsugaya smirked at her confidence. "Fine."

"What!" Ishida exclaimed, the shock evident on his face.

"You will not come into the sight of the hollow, though." Hitsugaya continued. "And Ishida and Hinamori will stand guard with you."

"I can stand with that deal." Rukia said, her eyes confident.

"Good. Now let's go!"

* * *

"Tatsuki, I got the flowers!" Orihime said, her gray eyes happy and bright as she stepped forward, a bouquet of lilies in her arms.

"Ah, good." The short haired girl said, her brown eyes looking over her best friends and the flowers she carried.

"I'm sure this fall festival will be wonderful." The orange haired girl said as she sat the flowers on the table where people would come to buy their tickets to the various kiddy rides that would be going on at Karakura School the next day.

The sun was setting rapidly, almost unnoticeable against the horizon. Orihime turned her head to the sun and felt the fleeting rays warm her cheeks. She moved back to the dark haired girl and smiled, "Hey, I'll finish up here, okay? You can go on home. Everything's about done here anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Orihime brightly chirped, closing her eyes in a friendly smile.

When she opened them, Tatsuki was on the ground in a pool of blood, and a skeletal mask was leering menacingly at her.

* * *

_**End Chapter Ten.**_

_And there's chapter ten! I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I've had college and other fics I've been working on and it's all been…hectic, would be the best way to put it._

_So! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! It was a rather fun on to write and I really hope that everyone would review with their opinions and thoughts!_

_Thanks again!_


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